When a champion vacates the title for whatever reason, their shadow continues to loom over the division for years to come. No matter how many times the belt gets passed around, when the former champ decides to return, the red carpets come out and the champion is back on a FastTrack to the title.

At UFC 288, the lineal bantamweight king will return, but someone else sits atop the 135-pound division. Is he a pretender or contender?

On May 6th, Henry Cejudo will return to the UFC octagon for the first time since 2020, and in his return, he will challenge for the belt he never lost.

In the co-headliner, two relatively new welterweights will risk it all for a chance at the coveted welterweight title.

Gilbert Burns vs Belal Muhammad

One thing is certain with the UFC as of late: When a fight comes off a card, another comes in to replace it. Muhammad vs Burns is no exception.

An unfortunate injury to the former lightweight king Charles Oliveira saw his match with Beneil Dariush come off the card. However, within a few days, Dana White and the UFC cooked up a banger replacement.

Muhammad and Burns will clash in a five round title eliminator fight as the new co-main event. This fight is not only needed, but has serious number one contender implications riding on it with Colby Covington and Leon Edwards tied up in matchmaking.

It’s truly a high-level fight.

Burns is a savage. This will be his third fight inside four months, all within the top 15. Who does that nowadays?

He handled Neil Magny with relative ease in January, retired Jorge Masvidal last month and is now looking to put away Muhammad, a solid up-and-comer on a lengthy win streak.

To put credit where it’s due, the man hasn’t lost since the pre-pandemic era and is one win away from a title shot.

Both men are deserving and with a win, it will further emphasize how dangerous both men are and how ready they are for a title shot.

Burns is as well-rounded as they come at 170. He has KO power and he holds a Brazilian ju-jitsu black belt. As long as he has energy left, Belal will have to be extremely careful.

Only on very rare occassions do we get a five-round co-main event fight. May 6th will be one of them.

Muhammad is known for having an elite level of cardio, like welterweight Merab Dvalishvili. Effective grapplers are difficult for most fighters to deal with, but when they are constantly coming at a fighter round after round, that spells doom for most fighters.

Burns’ most fatal downfall may be his brawling tendency. The man can stand and bang with anyone at 170, but he needs to stay composed in order to succeed.

The most important thing for Burns to do is conserve his energy because fighting Muhammad with no gas in the tank is a death sentence.

The winner will be next at 170 and both men are coming into New Jersey to make a statement.

Aljamain Sterling vs Henry Cejudo

The main event will host the bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling vs returning legend Henry Cejudo.

Their story began back in 2020.

Following Cejudo’s successful title defense vs Dominick Cruz at UFC 246, the bantamweight title was officially vacant. After, Petr Yan defeated Jose Aldo to win the title. Then, his first title defense was against Sterling, who he lost to via an illegal knee.

Sterling’s first title defense was a split decision win in the rematch. It was controversial and closely contested but either way, it happened and the two went their separate ways

After defeating one-armed TJ Dillishaw, Funkmaster is now in a prime position to become, on paper, the most successful 135lb champion of all time. Cruz nor Dillishaw have defended the belt three times, but Sterling has a chance to do so.

To credit Sterling, he is at his peak. Aljo has repeatedly made 135lbs despite 170lbs being his walking weight. What the f-.

He will, no doubt, be the bigger man in the octagon, dwarfing the challenger by a good margin.

And about triple C:

The man has been out for three years, so there isn’t very much to say. Once upon a time ago, the man defeated Mighty Mouse to avenge his only previous loss, ko’d Dillishaw to save the flyweight division, snatched Marlon Morales soul and beat the greatest bantamweight of all time (Cruz). Not to mention, his Olympic-level wrestling won him the title of gold medalist.

That run is incredible.

For a time, Cejudo was starting to be considered one of the greatest combat sport athletes of all time. Olympic gold medalist and UFC Champ-Champ is peak combat greatness.

The reason why Cejudo retired when the MMA world was at his feet is unknown. But he is back now, and the question is: How far removed from his prime is he?

At his age, his physical prime is behind him, but does he have enough left in the tank to defeat Sterling?

On paper, Cejudo is more well-rounded. He’s the better striker with KO power and his footwork is a lot more defined than the champions.

Sterling has serviceable striking, but at 135lbs, it’s considered mediocre.

So what’s Sterling’s trump card? His grappling. Like most grapplers, all it takes is one takedown to tire one out and make their life hell.

However, landing a takedown on an Olympic gold medalist is a tall ask. The only man to ever take him down was Mighty Mouse. Nobody else has come close.

But, then again, why would one want to bring someone with the caliber of Cejudo to the ground?

Aljamain will need to take the fight to the ground, but it wont be easy. That being said, he is the bigger fighter and one awkward exchange or wrestling reversal puts Cejudo in a world of trouble.

May 6th will answer all of our questions.

If Sterling wins, the bantamweight title defense record is broken and the UFC is headed toward another era of bantamweight dominance.

If Cejudo wins, then CCC will more likely than not move up to 145lbs to potentially capture a second belt.

Two angry welterweights will fight for the next shot at the title, with both guys having something to prove and even more to gain.

A generational talent will return to claim back the belt he never lost

Meanwhile, the current champion is on another level, and he has shown no signs of slowing down.

At UFC 288 on May 6th in Newark, New Jersey, all of our questions will be answered.