The repercussions of March 9, 2021 are still being felt.

In the fourth round of the co-main event of UFC 259, UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan hit Aljamain Sterling with an illegal knee strike, losing the fight and the championship in the process.

Fan reaction to Sterling winning the belt by getting knocked out rubbed fans the wrong way, and this was compounded when Sterling was seen celebrating with the belt on his shoulder that night.

When he returned after a year out due to neck surgery, he beat Yan in the rematch at UFC 27 on April 9, 2022 by the tightest of split decisions. The final significant strike count was 63 for Yan, 62 for Sterling but the defending champion got two takedowns along the way, and that's likely what sealed it for two of the judges.

Still seen as a paper champion, Sterling then fought T.J. Dillashaw – the man widely considered the best bantamweight ever – at UFC 280 in October that year. Within moments of the fight beginning, Dillashaw's shoulder dislocated and he went into survival mode defense until the referee called an end to the farce. Post-fight, T.J. admitted he knew his shoulder was busted but hid it from the doctors to make sure he got the fight. This isn't Sterling's fault, but he was now a year and a half into a title reign without a concrete victory.

And it's this perception that led to Henry Cejudo's return.

Cejudo, the former bantamweight and flyweight champion and gold medalist in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, retired out of the blue after knocking out Dominick Cruz to defend the bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 on May 9, 2020.

During that time, he became a superstar coach, guiding Zhang Weili, Deivison Figueiredo and Jon Jones to championships, and as his stock rose, so did his ability to cut the line. The UFC is not WWE, but they do put their thumb on the scale where they deem appropriate. With Merab Dvalishvilli, Corey Sandhagen and Sean O'Malley waiting in the wings, Cejudo was considered to be the man to either legitimize Sterling's title reign or take the belt from him.

So, after three years away, Cejudo returned directly into a championship main event against Sterling – and for five minutes, it was obvious. Visibly whiffing on the majority of his offense, Cejudo struggled to find the range against Sterling, landing only 38% of his significant strikes. He also only got one takedown while being taken down himself, twice. He looked out of his depth.

Then, in the second round, he figured it out. His kickboxing was varied in both attack style and targeted body part, and he connected with 31 out of his attempted 53 significant strikes.

But, it's one thing to figure out the range, it's another to overcome it. Cejudo is 163cm tall while Sterling is 170cm and there's a 17cm reach differential. For Henry to even have a chance, he had to get in dangerously close and then he had to punch upwards, a movement pattern that took him off balance.

Not only that but Cejudo used to fight in the flyweight division, 10lbs lighter than at bantamweight. It's very different to Sterling who cuts down to 135lbs and is expected to move up to featherweight by the end of the year.

As the fight progressed, Cejudo's incredible fight IQ and high level (even Olympic level) offense wasn't enough to overcome the vast difference in physicality. Just like super middleweight Canelo Alvarez taking on light heavyweight Dmitry Bivol in boxing, Cejudo would tee off on Sterling and barely leave a mark.

And yet Sterling wasn't using this to his advantage. He'd pepper Cejudo with one-twos but not follow up with power shots; he'd take Cejudo down and hold him there, neither inflicting damage nor establishing a submission threat.

Sterling coasted on this edge going into the fifth and final round. Cejudo gave it all he had and ended up controlling the round from mid-range, slowing the champ down with body kicks and clinch work.

When the final bell rang and both men lined up with referee Herb Dean, neither looked confident. Then Bruce Buffer read the result: Sterling had won by split decision. Cejudo looked confused, Sterling looked relieved and the crowd absolutely hated it.

Instead of making him into a real champion, scraping past Henry Cejudo did nothing to legitimize Aljamain Sterling – and based on how quickly they got Sean O'Malley into the cage for a face-off with him, the UFC want their long-reigning, record breaking title holder to lose as quickly as possible.

[Header: Referee Herb Dean raises Alajamin Sterling's hand in victory following his split decision win over Henry Cejudo in the bantamweight championship main event of UFC 288 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, U.S. on May 7, 2023. /Zuffa]