UFC 288: Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo – Betting Preview

Returning to ‘The Garden State’ this weekend for a pay-per-view flagship event, the UFC are slated to host a UFC 288 showcase at Prudential center in Newark, New Jersey. And taking main event honors at the event is an undisputed bantamweight title fight between current champion, Aljamain Sterling, and former two-division best, Henry Cejudo.

Attempting to leave himself unmatched alongside his bantamweight championship peers, Uniondale native, Sterlingh has the opportunity to become the first division titleholder in UFC history to successfully defend the bantamweight crown on three consecutive occasions.

As for Cejudo, the Los Angeles-born Olympic gold medalist has himself the chance to join past foes, Dominick Cruz, and T.J. Dillashaw as two-time titleholders at the bantamweight.

In the midst of a stunning eight-fight undefeated streak, Sterling has successfully defended his bantamweight crown against both former champions, Petr Yan and the above-mentioned, Dillashaw since his reign began back in 2021.

As for Cejudo, the former undisputed bantamweight and flyweight kingpin has been sidelined through a surprising retirement back in May 2020, calling time on his stunning career following a successful title defense of his own against the above-noted, Cruz. 

However, despite Sterling’s impressive reign of dominance over his bantamweight compatriots, the returning Cejudo is closing as a -120 betting favorite to reclaim the throne over at BetWay at the time of publication. 

Not out of the race with the bookies at the time of publication, however, Sterling has received a slew of wagers in the weeks ahead of UFC 288, and is currently sat as a narrow +105 betting underdog to retain his championship against Cejudo in the night’s headlining title showdown. 

Seeing the untimely cancellation of an originally slated co-main event slot between former lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira, and Beneil Dariush for UFC 288, the promotion have since replaced the clash with a potential welterweight title-eliminator between Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad – over the course of five rounds to boot.

And off the back of his impressive decision win over Jorge Masvidal just over four weeks ago, Burns has emerged as a -125 betting favorite to defeat surging contender, Muhammad in the night’s co-main event – with the #4 ranked contender closing as a +100 betting underdog against Burns in New Jersey. 

In another interesting main card clash, former undisputed strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade makes her return to the Octagon in a high-stakes division clash against Yan Xiaonan at the Prudential Center. And given her prior title-winning experience, Andrade is sat as a -170 betting favorite to defeat the +140 betting underdog, Xiaonan at UFC 288. 

Set to make his first Octagon walk since November 2019, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert, Kron Gracie make his long-awaited return to the sport this weekend in the main card opener of UFC 288 to boot – taking on Canadian featherweight, Charles Jourdain.

8-1 as a professional, Gracie is closing as a +150 betting underdog to prevent a second consecutive loss in his return against Jourdain – with the latter sat as a -187 betting favorite ahead of their UFC 288 clash.