Henry Cejudo makes his return to the Octagon after a retirement that has lasted nearly three years in an attempt to take away the bantamweight championship that resides with Aljamain Sterling.

Sterling has proved to be the man to beat in the 135-pound division. An eight-fight win streak that goes all the way back to 2018 is accentuated by two wins over Petr Yan to win and retain the championship and a second-round TKO win over T.J. Dillashaw to keep the belt around his waist at UFC 280.

Cejudo is another chance for him to add to that resume. The former Olympic gold medalist and two-division UFC champion has an impressive career that also features a knockout win over Dillashaw along with wins over Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson.

It's a huge fight with plenty on the line.

It punctuates a card that comes to Newark, New Jersey, with multiple intriguing matchups. Here, we'll take a look at the latest hype surrounding the featured bouts with early predictions and odds.

UFC 288 Fight Card, Schedule and Odds

Main Card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

• Aljamain Sterling (-105) vs. Henry Cejudo (-115)
• Gilbert Burns (-125) vs. Belal Muhammad (+105)
• Jessica Andrade (-190) vs. Xiaonan Yan (+160)
• Movsar Evloev (-600) vs. Diego Lopes (+450)
• Kron Gracie (+155) vs. Charles Jourdain (-180)

Prelims (ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

• Drew Dober (-205) vs. Matt Frevola (+175)
• Devin Clark (+160) vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (-190)
• Rolando Bedoya (+255) vs. Khaos Williams (-305)
• Virna Jandiroba (+120) vs. Marina Rodriguez (-140)

Early Prelims (ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET)

• Parker Porter (-170) vs. Braxton Smith (+145)
• Ikram Aliskerov (-200) vs. Phil Hawes (+170)
• Rafael Estevam (-180) vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov (+155)
• Joseph Holmes (+150) vs. Claudio Ribeiro (-175)
• Johnny Munoz (+160) vs. Daniel Santos (-190)

Picks in bold. Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Cejudo Believes Sterling Will Be "Easy Money"

Henry Cejudo walked away from his fighting career nearly three years ago. Since then, he's been an active coach working in the corner of some great fighters.

So why come back and put his reputation on the line at 36 years old?

According to him, it's an easy opportunity to grab the title that was once his.

"Because it's easy money," Cejudo told media at a pre-fight press conference. "It's easy money. I watched these guys after coaching some of the best in the world—Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Zhang Weili, Deiveson Figueiredo, Jiri Procházka—and I started to understand my talent a little bit better."

It isn't unusual for fighters to get the itch to get back in the action. Retirements in combat sports are often tenuous. With Cejudo in the corner for some major fights as a coach, it's not surprising he wants to come back.

Considering Sterling "easy" in any regard has turned out to be a common mistake, though. Despite his accomplishments, Sterling has been the underdog against Petr Yan twice, Jimmie Rivera and Pedro Munhoz.

He's a perfect 4-0 in those fights.

Sterling's jiu-jitsu is a dangerous aspect of his game and could be enough to neutralize Cejudo's Olympic-caliber wrestling. From there, it's going to be a matter of whether Cejudo has lost a step.

Prediction: Sterling via decision

Muhammad Looking to Seize Major Opportunity

The co-main event is an absolute banger of a welterweight matchup. Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush were supposed to meet in a potential No. 1 contender matchup in the lightweight division.

But when Do Bronx pulled out of the fight because of an injury, it opened the door for the UFC to create a massive welterweight bout on short notice instead.

Belal Muhammad was eager to accept. He hasn't fought since an October win over Sean Brady. For Burns, it will be a much quicker turnaround. He's returning to the cage less than one month after his unanimous-decision win over Jorge Masvidal.

Muhammad believes that's a bad decision on Burns' part.

"For him to accept a fight like me, it's gonna be tough, because you're going from fighting a guy like Masvidal—who's not as hungry as I am," Muhammad said, per Danny Segura and Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie. "He has all the money in the world. Now you're going against a starving dog, a guy that wants it more than you do, a guy that's willing to die in there. How you gonna deal with that?"

The truth is that Burns only absorbed 39 significant strikes in his fight with Masvidal. Only 14 of those were to the head, per UFC Stats.

This fight is nearly a toss-up. Muhammad hasn't lost a bout since January 2019. He's won eight bouts in a row with a No Contest against Leon Edwards after the current champ poked Muhammad in the eye rendering him unable to continue.

As interesting as it would be to see Muhammad get a chance to run that one back, we'll go with Burns' experience in a close bout.

Prediction: Burns via decision

Andrade Focused on Bouncing Back

Jessica Andrade has been one of the most enduring figures in women's MMA. She's been in the UFC since 2013 and has wins as a strawweight, flyweight and bantamweight.

Up until her most recent loss to Erin Blanchfield, Andrade had only lost to current or former champions since 2016. The Brazilian had become the ultimate gatekeeper for the top echelon of the strawweight division.

So Blanchfield's second-round submission win was either a sign she's a future champion, Andrade is losing a step or a little bit of both.

Truthfully, it's got something to do with Blanchfield. The 23-year-old appears to have a bright future, but Andrade chalks up the performance to a general lack of focus.

"I was kind of loose. I just came in 'very happy to be here,' happy to be in the fight, happy to make weight and actually show up for it. But even I think she did mention the Jessica that (she) faced is not the Jessica that (she knows) in that fight," she said, per Simon Samano and Mike Bohn of MMAJunkie.

Now she draws a fighter in Xiaonan Yan who is looking to get back on track in her own right. She won a majority decision over Mackenzie Dern last time out but that snapped a two-fight losing streak to Carla Esparza and Marina Rodriguez.

The problem for her is that if she struggled with Esparza, she's going to struggle to find an answer for Andrade's forward movement, too. This could be another step back for her and a reminder that Andrade is still one of the best fighters in the division.

Prediction: Andrade via decision

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