In May, the largest MMA promotions in the world decided to take care of their strongest athletes a little and limited themselves to just one tournament that claims to be a must-watch. On the night of May 7, a numbered show of the Ultimate Fighting Championship was scheduled in Newark, in the main fight of which the current title holder Aljamain Sterling and the ex-champion in two divisions Henry Cejudo, who decided to resume his career and return to the octagon after three years of absence, fought for the bantamweight trophy. And even though this was already enough to attract the attention of a huge audience, fights with the participation of such stars as Gilbert Burns, Jessica Andrade and Movsar Evloev, who had recovered from a severe knee injury, should have been a pleasant addition for fans.

And although it was the fight with the participation of Evloev that the Russian fans were looking forward to, the first thing they had to do was look at another compatriot. At the same tournament, Ikram Aliskerov, known to the general public for his battle with Khamzat Chimaev, made his debut in the UFC. Then he missed a smashing uppercut and was knocked out at 146 seconds into the fight. But since then, he has made tremendous progress, won five times in a row, and four times he did it ahead of schedule.

It was not possible to survive all the planned five rounds and Philip Hawes - a native of New Jersey, eager to prove himself in front of his native fans. True, at first he succeeded. The American attacked well from a distance and drove one middle kick after another into the Russian's body. But the denouement came suddenly. Having lubricated attempts to kick and knee, Aliskerov threw out a lightning-fast deuce and sent his opponent to a deaf knockout.

"I hope I met your expectations. I will not delay for a long time, say big words. I came here, I have big goals. I will seek them," said the 30-year-old Russian, after which he challenged Bo Nickal.

As for Evloev, few expected that Diego Lopez, who came on as a substitute on short notice, would be able to compete with him. By the age of 28, the Brazilian had 26 fights in his professional career and suffered five defeats. And this is with almost no experience of fighting in the largest leagues in the world. These include only the battle with Amir Elzhurkaev in the ACB and the duel with Joanderson Brito at Dana White's Contender Series, in each of which he lost.

And although Evloev won by unanimous decision, his performance left an ambiguous impression. In the first round, he missed several heavy punches and almost ended up knocked down, after which he twice allowed himself to be caught in pain. First, he got caught on the twist of the heel, and then on the lever of the elbow. And although he managed to get out of the most difficult situations and quite confidently spent the rest of the five-minute period, he made his fans seriously nervous. The end of the final segment also turned out to be "validol", when Movsar again missed a couple of good counterattacks in the stance, after which he was forced to get out of the kimura and the knee lever.

In the remaining time, Evloev looked preferable, but only the second round was close to ideal. The Russian groped for a distance and began to "fire" at the noticeably tired Lopez, and then consolidated his advantage on the ground. He almost four times surpassed him in significant shots (39:10), and in the total number of hits the difference was even more impressive (79:10).

However, Lopez, although he lost, probably left an extremely pleasant impression on the UFC leadership. He had only five days to prepare, but he did not hesitate and was very good in the battle with the tenth number of the featherweight ranking. And although it was noticeable that he lacked the experience of status confrontations, and his arsenal in the rack is noticeably more modest, the Brazilian managed to compete on equal terms with the Russian and had a chance to prevail. Yevloev himself paid tribute to him and admired his skills in grappling, and also suggested that his performance could have been affected by the celebration of Ramadan.

One way or another, Evloev won the 17th fight in his career and remained undefeated, and in a few months he can finally fight with a representative of the top ten category. The Russian himself said that he would not mind facing off against Cheng Song Jung.

The main duel of the evening was preceded by two fights with the participation of the stars of the championship, however, none of them managed to confirm the status of the favorite. Former minimumweight champion Jessica Andrade sensationally lost by knockout to Yang Xiaonian, and Gilbert Burns was beaten by Belal Muhammad and could not get a third victory in less than four months. In January, he dealt with Neil Magni, after which he retired Jorge Masvidal. But less than a month to recover from the three-round battle was not enough.

Burns was never able to move Muhammad to the ground, failed to find his distance and almost completely lost to him in the stance. He fought on equal terms only in the first two rounds, after which he began to miss noticeably more and ultimately left the judges with no questions about the name of the winner. All three sided with Belal, and one of them gave him all five segments - 50:45. And this is not surprising, given the huge difference in the number of hits (132:81).

After that, it was the turn of the main fight of the evening. And there was every reason to expect that he would turn out to be "fiery". The fighters made an application for this at the weigh-in ceremony, where they almost staged a brawl. However, the beginning turned out to be quite calm. The athletes scouted the situation and exchanged rare hits, until Cejudo effortlessly sent his opponent to the canvas. Before the end of the segment, Sterling responded with two takedowns and took the ending.

Cejudo spent the second round more confidently and even interrupted Sterling, but did not look as great as before the pause in his career. Henry did not seem as fast as before, quickly "breathed" and practically did not force the course of the fight, preferring to exchange at medium distance. And given the difference in size, this was not the best idea. True, Aljamain could not take advantage of this and smeared a lot.

In the third round, Sterling tried to seize the initiative and apply his skills in grappling, but it was not so easy to do this against the Olympic wrestling champion. Cejudo easily defended himself from a pass to his feet, after which he put his opponent on the canvas, making a serious bid for victory in the second five minutes in a row.

Perhaps it was a mistake to tell the ex-champion in two divisions what he could lead on the judges' cards. In the fourth round, Cejudo took a short breather, while Sterling went forward and almost twice interrupted him in the rack (36:21). Yes, he still allowed Henry to work as number one and occupy the center of the cage, but he constantly caught his opponent in oncoming traffic, in the clinch he was completely stronger.

In fact, the fate of the duel was decided by the final, fifth round, which turned out to be equal. On the one hand, Cejudo surpassed Sterling in both significant shots and transfers to the ground, but it was Aljamain's hits that were heavier. Thus, the judges were faced with an extremely difficult task in terms of determining the triumphant.

As a result, the opinion of the jury was divided. One gave the victory to Cejudo, while two sided with Sterling, allowing him to defend the belt in the bantamweight division for the third time in a row. And judging by the reaction, the public in Newark did not agree with this. Fans reacted negatively to the verdict and booed the champion. And then they did it again - after his skirmish with Sean O'Malley, whom Aljamain himself summoned to the cage.