The UFC is heading back to the Garden State, New Jersey as they take over the Prudential Center for the first time since 2019. The last time we saw the UFC in New Jersey we had a main-event fight between Colby Covington and Robbie Lawler.
This go around, it looks like the bantamweight championship will be on the line when Aljamain Sterling looks to defend his title against “Triple C” Henry Cejudo who is coming back off a lengthy layoff due to retirement. Also, the #1 contender spot in the lightweight division is up for grabs when Charles Oliveira takes on Beneil Dariush in the co-main event.
The UFC just added a fight in the straweight division that has title implications surrounding it when #4 ranked Jessica Andrade and #6 ranked Xiaonan Yan go to battle. Andrade wants to quickly erase her last loss at the hands of Erin Blanchfield by just getting back into the swing of things just two months later.
Yan looked her best in her last fight against Mackenzie Dern. She defended numerous takedown attempts and got out of bad positions when it hit the mat and then when was able to do as she pleased when the fight was on the feet and at distance. This is going to be a very interesting matchup when these two go head-to-head.
UFC 288 Fight Card
The UFC’s return to New Jersey will be a good one especially if this fight card stays intact as it is right now. This is still yet to be finalized as more fights will be added in the coming weeks but as of right now, this fight card is shaping up nicely.
Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo
Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush
Bryce Mitchell vs. Jonathan Pearce
Jessica Andrade vs. Xiaonan Yan
Khaos Williams vs. Rolando Bedoya
Daniel Santos vs. Johnny Munoz Jr.
Marina Rodriguez vs. Virna Jandiroba
Andre Petroski vs. Armen Petrosyan
Devin Clark vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
A sneaky good fight on the main card is in the featherweight division when Bryce Mitchell tries to get back on track against surging contender Jonathan Pearce. Both are great all-around fighters but their grappling skills are top notch so we can expect some great scrambles throughout this contest.
Also, a middleweight fight between Andre Petroski and Armen Petrosyan should set the tone of the prelims as you can expect fireworks in this one. Both are finishers by nature so this fight has no chance of being boring and really will shock those who may not be familiar with either fighter.
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