Matthew Lowrimore
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UFC 288 takes place on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. This card features a bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo as the Main Event.
We are sharing our UFC 288 best bets here, but head over to our main UFC 288 predictions for picks on every Main Card and Preliminary Card fight. Let’s get into our best bets for Saturday’s card.
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UFC 288 Main Card best bets
Aljamain Sterling ML over Henry Cejudo
Aljamain Sterling comes into this fight with an MMA record of 22-3. He is 14-3 in the UFC, most recently beating TJ Dillashaw by KO/TKO back in October of 2022. Sterling is averaging 4.56 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 50%. He is absorbing 2.24 strikes and has a striking defense of 60%. Sterling is also known for his grappling ability, averaging 1.71 takedowns per every 15 minutes. His takedown accuracy is 21% and his takedown defense is 41%.
Despite holding the bantamweight title, Sterling is a slight underdog. However, given that Henry Cejudo has not fought in almost three years, it is possible he may be rusty here. Cejudo looks to have the better grappling, but Sterling has the better striking. With the long layoff for Cejudo, backing Sterling to retain his title will be our best bet.
Belal Muhammad ML over Gilbert Burns
Belal Muhammad comes into this fight with an MMA record of 22-3. He is 13-3 in the UFC, most recently beating Sean Brady by KO/TKO back in October of 2022. Muhammad is averaging 4.47 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 42%. He is absorbing 3.68 strikes and has a striking defense of 58%. His grappling is also solid, averaging 2.19 takedowns per every 15 minutes. He has a takedown accuracy of 35% and his takedown defense is 92%.
Muhammad is the slight underdog, but looks to be the right side here. He is the better striker and has the advantage in grappling, therefore backing Muhammad to win will be our play.
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UFC 288 Preliminary Card best bet
Ikram Aliskerov Win by Finish over Phil Hawes
Ikram Aliskerov comes into this fight with an MMA record of 13-1. He is 1-0 in the UFC, though this will be his official UFC debut. His UFC win was in the Dana White Contender Series, where he beat Mario Sousa by submission back in September of 2022. Aliskerov is averaging 3.26 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 58%. He is absorbing 7.91 strikes and has a striking defense of 41%. His grappling has been elite thus far, averaging 6.98 takedowns per every 15 minutes and 7.0 submission attempts during the same time period. He has a takedown accuracy of 33%.
Aliskerov is a heavy favorite in this fight, and looks to be the right side. He has won 4 of his last 5 fights by finish, while Phil Hawes has lost 2 of his last 3 fights by finish. Because Aliskerov looks to be a rising star, backing him to start his career UFC with a win by finish will be our play.
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At Pickswise we provide free expert MMA picks and MMA Predictions for all of the top UFC Cards. Our UFC predictions and UFC picks include a pick and analysis for all of the Main Card and Preliminary Card fights.
