Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo official UFC 288 scorecard

Aljamain Sterling was taken to the restrict by Henry Cejudo and the official scorecards mirrored that.

In the principle occasion of UFC 288 on Saturday in Newark, N.J., Sterling won a split decision over the returning Cejudo by the narrowest margin, with two judges scoring the combat in his favor 48-47 and the opposite scoring it 48-47 for Cejudo.

See the official scorecard beneath.

All three judges agreed that Sterling received the primary and fourth rounds and that Cejudo received the third. Rounds 2 and 5 had been up for grabs and people disputed frames had been sufficient to tilt the playing cards to Sterling’s facet.

On the sound of the ultimate bell, any rating appeared like it might be attainable with neither man in a position to assert themselves for lengthy intervals in both the putting or the grappling phases of the competitions. Sterling did look like getting the higher of the standup exchanges, however Cejudo didn’t look misplaced in any respect on the ft regardless of this being his first combat since 2020.

Sterling’s third straight profitable title protection offers him the file for the perfect streak of any bantamweight champion in UFC historical past. Two of these defenses have come by means of cut up choice.