UFC 288 was an exciting event for the fans to witness. From Yan Xiaonan’s stunning KO of Jessica Andrade to Belal Muhammad’s domination of a seemingly concussed Gilbert Burns, the event had many highlights. However, the selling point of the PPV was the main event between Alajmain Sterling and Henry Cejudo. And, it looks like the bout captured fans’ attention, which has boosted the PPV buys.
Henry Cejudo made his return after staying away from the Octagon for nearly 3 years. He was in peak condition before retiring at UFC 249. Heading into the recently concluded PPV, Cejudo used his social media personality to drum up a lot of interest in the bout. If his wrestling coach and friend, Eric Albarracin, is to be believed, UFC 288 had a very impressive PPV buy rate.
Eric Albarracin recently made an appearance on MMA Hour. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, who moderated the recent Jake Paul-Nate Diaz press conference, Eric revealed the true PPV figures for Henry Cejudo’s losing effort against Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 288 main event. Albarracin said, “You know how many pay-per-views (Henry Cejudo) got? 700,000. They needs to be thanking us. He never even got over 200,000 on a pay-per-view. This one was 700,000.”
Captain Eric Albarracin says #UFC288 did 700K PPV buys.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/E3gH8ABUiZ
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 10, 2023
Before retiring, Henry Cejudo had headlined only one PPV, UFC 238, prior to UFC 288. While there is no official figure for the PPV buy rate for UFC 238, Eric Albarracin revealed that any PPVs that Cejudo headlined, did not manage to cross even 200,000 PPVs.
Hence, if UFC 288 has really sold 700,000 PPVs via ESPN+, it just goes to show that Cejudo’s star power has grown significantly. On top of that, 700,000 PPV buys at a rate of $79.99 means the event has generated about $56 million in revenue from PPVs alone!
Henry Cejudo calls out Merab Dvalishvili after losing at UFC 288
After the disappointing loss to Aljamain Sterling, fans were wondering if Cejudo would decide to retire for good. Speaking to Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview, Cejudo revealed that fighting the featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski was his end goal. However, “Triple C” had a sense of self-doubt in his voice as he failed in beating Aljamain Sterling.
Despite that moment of weakness, Cejudo seemed to have found a taste for fighting again. Even his wife, Ana Karolina revealed, as the fight camp for UFC 288 went on, Cejudo became more and more comfortable with the decision to be active once again. Hence, after UFC 288, the Olympic Gold Medalist took to Twitter and called out Aljo’s best friend Merab Dvalishvili.
This shit is far from over! @danawhite I want @MerabDvalishvil head on a plate! #ufcboston pic.twitter.com/ME9ygzPaJG
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) May 8, 2023
Henry wrote, “This shit is far from over! (Dana White) I want (Merab Dvalishvil) head on a plate!”
While Dana White revealed after UFC 288 that he will not try to convince Henry to stick around, perhaps he will change his mind after learning about UFC 288 PPV buy rate. Do you think UFC will book the bout between Cejudo and Dvalishvili? Let us know in the comments down below.
