UFC 288 weigh-in results: Fighter comes in 4 pounds heavy, main event title fight official
UFC 288 is set to take place this weekend at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey with the bantamweight championship on the line in the main event fight.
The main event between champion Aljamain Sterling and the returning former champ Henry Cejudo was made official at the early weigh-ins held at the host hotel to precede the ceremonial weigh-ins with the fans in attendance. Cejudo's nearly three-year long absence from the octagon was not evident as he was the first to the scale and weighed exactly 135 pounds.
Sterling also made weight easily by weighing in under the limit at 134 pounds.
The short notice co-main event between welterweight contenders Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns faced no hitches with Muhammad weighing in at 170 pounds and Burns at 171.
However, the UFC 288 card did lose a fight with the early prelims opener between flyweights Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Rafael Estevam scrapped due to the latter's 'weight cutting issues'. Estevam will have to wait some more to make his promotional debut after previously losing out on a fight due to his opponent's withdrawal.
The early prelims middleweight bout featuring Joseph Holmes and Claudio Riberio will proceed at catchweight after Holmes came in four pounds heavier than the 185-pound limit. He will forfeit 20 percent of his fighter purse as a penalty but the fight will not be canceled.
The rest of the fight card will proceed as is without any further changes. Listed below are the complete weigh-in results.
Main card:
Aljamain Sterling (134) vs. Henry Cejudo (135)
Gilbert Burns (171) vs. Belal Muhammad (170)
Jessica Andrade (115) vs. Yan Xiaonan (115)
Movsar Evloev (145) vs. Diego Lopes (146)
Kron Gracie (145) vs. Charles Jourdain (145)
Preliminary card:
Drew Dober (155.5) vs. Matt Frevola (155)
Devin Clark (205) vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (205)
Rolando Bedoya (170) vs. Khaos Williams (169)
Virna Jandiroba (115) vs. Marina Rodriguez (115)
Early Prelims:
Parker Porter (249) vs. Braxton Smith (262)
Ikram Aliskerov (186) vs. Phil Hawes (185)
Joseph Holmes (189) vs. Claudio Ribeiro (185)
UFC 288: Early prelims bantamweight fight canceled after fighter injury
The early preliminary card lost another fight before the fighters could even get to the scale.
Bantamweight Daniel Santos was forced to withdraw from his bout against Johnny Munoz after suffering an injury. The UFC announced that the fight will not proceed with a replacement fighter.
Santos took to Instagram to explain his injury and thank the fans for their support. He revealed that an abscess in his leg was the cause of his withdrawa. He wrote on Instagram:
“During training and the weight loss process, an abscess came out on my leg. Due to the pain and the degree of inflammation, the UFC medical team made me rehydrate...” [translation via Instagram]
Check out his full comment on Instagram: