Author: Shreyas Sharma
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 288 event was an exciting night of fights featuring some of the sport’s greatest talents competing inside the octagon. In the main card, Charles Jourdain, Belal Muhammad and Aljamain Sterling put in impressive performances and emerged victorious.
Jourdain beats Gracie in a tactical display
The opening fight of the UFC 288 main card featured a tactical display of strikes from Charles Jourdain, who dominated grappling specialist Kron Gracie and won by unanimous decision. Despite facing a dangerous opponent known for his finishing skills, Jourdain kept the fight on the feet and used his superior striking to tag Gracie in every exchange of blows. He also showed off his excellent defensive grappling skills, avoiding all of Gracie’s grappling attempts. In the end, all three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Jourdain, who secured a much-needed victory after two consecutive losses, while Gracie suffered his second consecutive defeat in the octagon.
Muhammad earns title shot with dominant win over Burns
In the co-main event, Belal Muhammad put in a dominant performance against Brazilian Gilbert Burns to earn a shot at the middleweight title. Despite accepting the challenge with only two weeks’ notice, Muhammad looked like he had been training for 25 minutes. He increased the pressure round after round as he battered the Brazilian with quick combinations and a series of devastating body kicks. Muhammad’s striking was surgical throughout the five rounds, and he secured victory by unanimous decision. The scores read 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46, extending Muhammad’s unbeaten run to 10 consecutive fights.
Sterling defies the odds to defend his title against Cejudo
In the main event of UFC 288, Aljamain Sterling pulled off an impressive comeback, defeating former two-division champion Henry Cejudo to defend his title. In a back and forth battle over five rounds, Sterling showed his superior striking, takedowns and grappling at opportune moments to secure the victory. While two judges scored the fight 48-47 for Sterling, the third judge gave the same score to Cejudo. Despite the split decision, Sterling’s performance was enough to earn him the victory and, without doubt, the biggest win of his career.
In conclusion, UFC 288 featured some impressive performances from the fighters on the main card. Charles Jourdain showed off his striking and defensive grappling skills to dominate Kron Gracie, while Belal Muhammad earned a shot at the middleweight title with a dominant win over Gilbert Burns. In the main event, Aljamain Sterling pulled off a surprising upset to defend his title against Henry Cejudo, proving once again that anything can happen inside the octagon.