UFC 288 Sterling vs Cejudo Odds, Best Bets and Prediction

Here I come to toot my own horn…I went 3-0 last week. Will the good times continue to roll this weekend with UFC 288? Only one way to find out.

This weekend’s pay-per-view is set to kick off at 6:00 PM EST with early prelims, with the prelims set to start at 8:00 PM EST and the main card scheduled to start at 10:00 PM EST. The main event of the evening is a Bantamweight title bout between champ Aljamain Sterling and the former Flyweight and Bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo.

Cejduo retired back in 2020 after defeating Dominick Cruz for his first Bantamweight title defense but has been flirting with a comeback since. Well, it looks like the time has come, and he seems more determined than ever.

Can he get it done, though? Let's look at the odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

UFC 288 Odds

Early Prelims

Daniel Santos (-190) vs Johnny Munoz (+160)

Joseph Holmes (+150) vs Claudio Ribeiro (-175)

Rafael Estevam (-180) vs Zhalgas Zhumagulov (+155)

Phil Hawes (+180) vs Ikram Aliskerov (-210)

Braxton Smith (+140) vs Parker Porter (-165)

Preliminary Card

Marina Rodriguez (-140) vs Virna Jandiroba (+120)

Khaos Williams (-305) vs Rolando Bedoya (+255)

Kennedy Nzechukwu (-190) vs Devin Clark (+160)

Drew Dober (-205) vs Matt Frevola (+175)

Main Card

Diego Lopes vs Movsar Evloev (Odds not yet released, fight made on short notice)

Kron Gracie (+155) vs Charles Jourdain (-180)

Jessica Andrade (-195) vs Xiaonan Yan (+165)

Belal Muhammad (+105) vs Gilbert Burns (-125)

Aljamain Sterling (-105) vs Henry Cejudo (-115)

UFC 288 Best Bets

Rafael Estevam over Zhalgas Zhumagulov (-180)

Be mad at me if you want, but I have a 3-0 record or uphold. While the odds are the most enticing, I feel like this is one of the easier fights to pick on Saturday night’s card. Zhumagulov is on the skid of all skids, winning only one of his last six fights. Estevam, on the other hand, is coming into this fight with a perfect record of 11-0, and is riding high off of a Dana White Contenders Series KO win back in September of 2022. I think it will be a gracious welcome to the UFC for Estevam, who can seemingly win by any means he wants.

Braxton Smith over Parker Porter (+140)

This fight is either going to go one of two ways. Either Smith is going to absolutely ragdoll Porter in the first round, or Porter is going to ragdoll Smith in the first round. There will be no in between, this fight is ending quickly. What makes Smith the man to me is, well, he seems absolutely terrifying. He’s only 5-1 in professional MMA, but each one of his five wins has come via first-round knockout. The UFC rarely extends a hand to unknown fighters like this, so they must know something about the rookie that the oddsmakers surely don’t.

Matt Frevola over Drew Dober (+175)

This has huge fight-of-the-night potential, as both men just love to put their heads down and slug fists. When it comes to fights like this, I really view them as a coin flip, and I’m leaning Frevola because Dober has a tendency to get hit early in fights. If you get hit early in a fight with Frevola, you’ll likely be going to sleep.

Gilbert Burns over Belal Muhammad (-125)

I think Gilbert Burns is the best welterweight on the planet right now, and I think he’ll prove just that on Saturday. He has much heavier hands than Muhammad and is one of the best wrestlers and Jiu-Jitsu artists in the organization. I think the Muhammad hype train is derailing, and Burns will be fighting for the title by the end of the year.

Henry Cejudo over Aljamain Sterling (-115)

Aljo has surely proven to be a great champ, but Cejudo is just a different beast. The dude can strike, wrestler, and has some of the best take-down defense in the UFC. I just don’t see where Aljo can get the upper hand. I have Cejudo winning this one (Under 4.5 rounds as well, at -130) and moving up the Featherweight to take on the winner of Volk vs Rodriguez.