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UFC 288 and its alternatives
UFC 288 is all the buzz this week thanks to a burst of promotion from the company. Additionally, Henry Cejudo’s comeback has been just as cringey as one might expect after a three-year absence from the sport and the limelight. His upcoming battle for bantamweight supremacy with Aljamain Sterling is just hours away and over the course of the last few days, the smack talk has ramped up considerably between the rivals.
That’s going to be the focal point of this week’s social media crawl. Smack talk is nothing new and we’ve seen some pretty awful stuff from fighters over the years. UFC star Conor McGregor maximized his gift of gab and that helped him along to becoming the biggest star in the entire sport. Who can forget “Who da fook is that?” Nearly three decades after a press event for Mike Tyson’s fight with Lennox Lewis, the incendiary smack talk he used that day still lives in infamy, reviled by some, celebrated by others and remembered by all that were around and paying attention at the time.
When Thursday’s pre-event press conference took place, plenty of acidic barbs were launched between main event stars Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo, and ultimately ended in a shouting match. Even fellow bantamweight Sean O’Malley was catching strays from their back-and-forth antics and he doesn’t even have a fight booked. Somehow, in the year 2023, the appeal of two men yelling at each other—more accurately, OVER each other—still manages to garner the attention of fans, even if they need to use a supercomputer and advanced alien technology to decipher what was said.
For those that like a more lively fight card experience with a bit of pomp and circumstance, ONE Championship had a phenomenal event last night, filled with great fights and finishes. They’ve done a great job building their athletes into stars. Stamp Fairtex and Rodtang are shining examples of this.
I know UFC 288 is a great card, but there’s no denying that the UFC experience is prepackaged and can feel a little stale. There’s also no denying that its weekend rivals had/have solid events too. And speaking of rivals, Rizin also has a card that should still be airing as this post goes live. And perhaps the most notable fight this weekend will be the one between Canelo Alvarez and John Ryder. That PPV takes place tonight on DAZN, directly competing against UFC 288. Fight fans, you have options!
Once again, Twitter was very fruitful, but I still managed to find a few clips and galleries from Instagram, so those have been thrown in, as well. I’ve also included a bonus post at the end of a UFC fighter’s very unique tattoos, and while she isn’t on this weekend’s UFC 288 event, I thought her ink was a fun addition, so in they went. In the immortal words of the great Al Bundy, Let’s rock!
UFC
Aljamain Sterling is ripped
Hunger games
Aljo’s sneaker game
Thirsty
Another run-in
Henry Cejudo is back
Spray tan?
He said what about Sean O’Malley?
ZING! Sean strikes back
The hit list
Henry Cejudo, the Barbarian
An army of mostly small-statured men
A fight gets canceled
Another fight gets canceled
Jessica Andrade goes fishing (gallery)
Face off
A fantastic featured prelim
Doberiffic
Belal says New Jersey sucks
Belal wants your tears
ONE Championship
What a resume!
Serious consideration
Money talks
Bonus cheddar
Precious moments
Stamp Fairtex is HER
Stamp dance
Rodtang is legend
These violent delights
Super Sage
A cheeky bonus
Weekend coverage
We’ve got the recipe for your weekend violence. As a matter of fact, we have several. Check out our staff predictions for UFC 288. Or have a gander at our live results stream for Canelo vs. Ryder. And if you don’t find anything to your liking in those, try out our live results stream for Rizin 42.
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