Henry Cejudo planned to return to action at UFC 288, take the UFC bantamweight title from Aljamain Sterling, move to 145 pounds, and then beat Alexander Volkanovski to win a title in a third UFC weight class. However, Sterling dashed Cejudo’s hopes of putting his name in the UFC record books with a split-decision victory in Saturday’s main event.
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With his win over Cejudo, Sterling retained the UFC bantamweight crown and set several UFC bantamweight records thanks to his victory over the former two-division UFC champ. Those records include, but are not limited to: most wins in UFC bantamweight history, longest winning streak in UFC bantamweight history, and most consecutive title defenses in UFC bantamweight history.
Sterling is expected to face Sean O’Malley in his next scheduled title defense.
In the evening’s co-main event, Belal Muhammad extended his unbeaten streak to 10 fights with a decision win over former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns.
Below, we take a deep dive into the stats from Saturday’s UFC 288 event. The evening’s main card, which took place at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, was broadcast on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
UFC 288 Fights and Results
- Total Fights: 12
- Unanimous Decisions: 4
- Split Decision: 2
- KOs/TKOs: 5
- Submissions: 1
UFC 288 Fights by Weight Division
- Heavyweight: 1
- Light Heavyweight: 1
- Middleweight: 2
- Welterweight: 2
- Lightweight: 1
- Featherweight: 2
- Bantamweight: 1
- Women’s strawweight: 2
UFC 288 Fight Stats
- Total Knockdowns Landed: 4
- Total Submission Attempts: 5
- Total Reversals: 2
- Total Significant Strikes Attempted: 2,389
- Total Significant Strikes Landed: 1,344
- Total Significant Head Strikes Attempted:1,785
- Total Significant Head Strikes Landed: 834
- Total Significant Body Strikes Attempted: 330
- Total Significant Body Strikes Landed: 271
- Total Significant Leg Strikes Attempted: 274
- Total Significant Leg Strikes Landed: 239
- Total Significant Distance Strikes Attempted: 2,000
- Total Significant Distance Strikes Landed: 1,018
- Total Significant Clinch Strikes Attempted: 219
- Total Significant Clinch Strikes Landed: 182
- Total Significant Ground Strikes Attempted: 170
- Total Significant Ground Strikes Landed: 144
- Total Strikes Attempted: 3,128
- Total Strikes Landed: 2,013
- Total Takedowns Attempted: 54
- Total Takedowns Landed: 17
Noteworthy Statistical Fights from Sterling vs. Cejudo Fight Card
- Shortest Three-Round Fight: Parker Porter TKOs Braxton Smith at 2:10 of Round 1 and Ikram Aliskerov KOs Phil Hawes at 2:10 of Round 1.
- Latest Finish in a Three-Round Fight: Claudio Ribeiro TKOs Joseph Holmes at 3:21 of Round 2.
- Most Takedowns Landed: Aljamain Sterling lands four takedowns on 15 attempts vs. Henry Cejudo and Movsar Evloev earns four takedowns on seven attempts vs. Diego Lopes.
- Most Submission Attempts: Diego Lopes picks up four submission attempts vs. Movsar Evloev.
- Most Knockdowns Landed: Four fighters with one knockdown: Yan Xiaonan, Matt Frevola, Ikram Aliskerov, and Claudio Ribeiro.
- Most Significant Strikes Landed in a Three-Round Fight: Rolando Bedoya lands 149 significant strikes vs. Khaos Williams.
UFC 288: New UFC Records From Sterling vs. Cejudo Fight Card
- Aljamain Sterling has the most wins in UFC bantamweight history with 14.
- Aljamain Sterling’s nine-fight winning streak is the most in UFC bantamweight history.
- Aljamain Sterling’s total fight time of 3:49:49 is first in UFC bantamweight history.
- Aljamain Sterling’s total control time of 1:08:36 is first in UFC bantamweight history.
- Aljamain Sterling’s 1,646 total strikes landed is first in UFC bantamweight history.
- Aljamain Sterling’s three consecutive title defenses are the most in UFC bantamweight history.
Stats via UFCStats