In a closely contested match at UFC 288 , Aljamain Sterling retained the bantamweight title following a split decision win over Henry Cejudo. On Twitter, pro fighters reacted to the five-round main event in Newark, New Jersey.
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Pros react to Aljamain Sterling’s win over Cejudo
Though a few professional fighters did think Cejudo had done enough to snatch the belt from Sterling at UFC 288, others believed the right man got the nod from the judges. Check out everything pro fighters had to say on Twitter below:
Sterling has defended the bantamweight title three times
With the win over Cejudo, Sterling (23-3) has now successfully defended the bantamweight title three times, beating T.J. Dillashaw and Petr Yan before UFC 288. The fight put the 33-year-old right next to Dominick Cruz for record for most bantamweight title defenses, though only Aljamain’s were consecutive.
The victory also put the ‘Funkmaster’ on a nine-fight win streak. In fact, Sterling has not lost a bout since a knockout defeat to Marlon Moraes, in December 2017.
Meanwhile, Cejudo (16-3) came back from retirement and lost his first fight since a split decision loss to Demetrious Johnson in December 2016. Before UFC 288. ‘Triple C’ was on a five-fight winning streak, which included wins over Dominick Cruz, T.J. Dillashaw and ‘Mighty Mouse’.
UFC 288 quick results
Belal Muhammad def. Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46 x2): Welterweight
Xiaonan Yan def. Jéssica Andrade by KO at 2:20 of round 1: Strawweight
Movsar Evloev def. Diego Lopes by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2): Featherweight
Charles Jourdain def. Kron Gracie by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Featherweight
Matt Frevola def. Drew Dober by TKO at 4:08 of round 1: Lightweight
Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Devin Clark by technical submission (Ninja Choke) at 2:28 of round 2: Light Heavyweight
Khaos Williams def. Rolando Bedoya by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29): Welterweight
Virna Jandiroba def. Marina Rodriguez by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2): Strawweight
Parker Porter def. Braxton Smith by TKO at 2:10 of round 1: Heavyweight
Ikram Aliskerov def. Phil Hawes by KO at 2:10 of round 1: Middleweight
Claudio Ribeiro def. Joseph Holmes by TKO at 3:21 of round 2: Middleweight
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