UFC Finalizes Fight Between Henry Cejudo and Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288

It’s official: Henry Cejudo is heading back to the Octagon soon.

After some starts and stops, the UFC 288 main event is now official with the 36-year-old Mexican American mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler among those set to participate.

Henry CejudoAljamain Sterling will defend his UFC bantamweight title against the former champion on May 6 in Newark, New Jersey, the promotion officially announced Friday.

Cejudo is making his return from retirement after three years away.

While both men had verbally agreed to the matchup weeks ago, there was some consternation this week. The UFC sent out a press release for UFC 288 on Tuesday without mentioning the main event, a rarity. Sterling posted on social media that Cejudo was holding things up and he teased a fight with popular up-and-comer Sean O’Malley instead. Ultimately, things were hammered out leading to the announcement Friday.

ESPN has Sterling tied for eighth in its pound-for-pound MMA rankings. Cejudo is a former UFC bantamweight and flyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist in wrestling.

Sterling (22-3) has won eight straight fights and is coming off a second-round TKO win over former champ TJ Dillashaw in October at UFC 280. The Long Island, New York native has two successful title defenses. Sterling, 33, won the belt in a disqualification (illegal knee) against Petr Yan at UFC 259 in March 2021 and then beat Yan via split decision in a rematch.

Cejudo (16-2) has not fought since he successfully defended the title via second-round TKO over former champion Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May 2020. The Arizona resident announced his retirement after that bout, but he officially returned by re-entering the USADA drug-testing pool in early 2022. Cejudo has won six straight, including stopping Demetrious Johnson‘s UFC record title-defense streak at 11 by winning the UFC flyweight title in 2018.

Jessica Andrade to Fight Rose Namajunas in High-Profile UFC Rematch

Jessica Andrade is readying for a rematch…

The UFC is thisclose to a deal for a high-profile rematch between the 28-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist and fellow  former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas, according to ESPN.

Jessica Andrade

Contracts haven’t been signed yet, but both sides have reportedly agreed to meet on July 11 at a location to be determined. 

The location could be the mysterious “Fight Island,” which UFC president Dana White has claimed will be operational by late June.

Namajunas (8-4) was the champion when she first fought Andrade (20-7) in Brazil in May 2019. Namajunas appeared to be winning the bout until Andrade picked her up and slammed her midway through the second round for a knockout victory.

Andrade went on to surrender the title to current champion Zhang Weili in her first attempted defense three months later.

The UFC originally booked this rematch for UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn, but that event was ultimately postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The promotion tried to keep it intact for May 2, but Namajunas was forced to withdraw due to personal reasons.

The winner of the 115-pound contest would have a strong case for another title shot against Zhang, who recently told ESPN she’d like to face Namajunas in her next bout.