Imago
Image credits: Imago
Imago
Image credits: Imago
UFC 288 had to undergo a facelift after Charles Oliveria had to pull out due to injury. However, fans are not pleased with the new lineup.
UFC 288 on May 6 will be headlined by the bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and the returning Henry Cejudo. The co-main event was a high-stakes lightweight bout between Oliveira and Beneil Dariush. However, news broke yesterday that Oliveria had to pull out due to an undisclosed injury.
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Reports said that the promotion was rescheduling the bout rather than finding a new opponent for Dariush. However, this meant that the card would need reshuffling.
UFC released the new lineup during the UFC Kansas City live event and the fans are not happy with the new lineup. As Oliveira and Dariush exited the card, a lightweight bout between Drew Dober and Matt Frevola has been moved up to the main card from the prelims.
Fans on Twitter did not take too kindly to the updated UFC 288 card and raised their concerns on Twitter.
Fans react to updated UFC 288 lineup
With the new change up UFC 288 main card looks as follows- Aljamain Sterling will defend the bantamweight title against Henry Cejudo in the main event. In the co-main former champion, Jessica Andrade will face rising star Yan Xiaonan in a strawweight bout.
Featherweights Kron Gracie and Charles Jourdain will open the main card. This fight will be followed by another featherweight contest between Movsar Evloev and Byrce Mitchell. Evloev is stepping in on a month’s notice after Jonathan Pearce pulled out due to an injury.
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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 04: UFC President Dana White speaks to the media during the UFC 217 post fight press conference event inside Madison Square Garden on November 4, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
This new card had fans scratching their heads. Many of them believe it will not do massive PPV buys. Some of them want Dana White to lower the PPV prices, citing a significant drop in quality following the postponement of Oliveira vs. Dariush.
Following are some of the reactions from Twitter.
This card doesn't justify the price for tickets. Or the PPV for that matter
— Bryan (@_illmatic22) April 16, 2023
Completely forgot that Kron Gracie was still in the UFC?! Thought he just faded out of the company after his loss
— Vijay Randhawa (@VijayRandhawa91) April 16, 2023
300$+ for this card? Come on!
— Boaz Galil (@Boaz25) April 16, 2023
This is a terrible card. Someone wake me up when we get a good one.
— S2W Nito (@S2WNito) April 16, 2023
This is a fight night card not nearly PPV worthy
— #EverybodysOnSteroids (@sportsguyjason) April 16, 2023
hopefully ticket prices will drop now
— 5th Chamber (@KillaHills10307) April 16, 2023
That’s a rough replacement for such a high profile fight.. Dana needs to do better..
— 🏳️🌈⚜️🏈🐯BigRob8409 ⚜️🐯⚾️🏒🏳️🌈 (@Rob8409316) April 16, 2023
I usually pay for the PPVs but I will be streaming the fuck out of this card 😂
— Fernando Torres (@RadgeGoat23) April 16, 2023
Card should be free since it's only gonna do about 100 buys
— Vlad 🧀🏈 (@VladB004) April 16, 2023
What are your thoughts on the updated UFC 288 lineup? Do you think it’s a decent one? Will you be buying the PPV?
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Let us know in the comments below.
