It’s back to the Middle East for UFC this week, as Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev will fight for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, on Saturday. Oliveira lost the title at UFC 274 after he failed to hit weight for a defense bout against Justin Gaethje. That’s just one of two championship fights on the card, as Aljamain Sterling will make the latest defense of his UFC Bantamweight belt against T.J. Dillashaw. You can catch the main card on pay per view, while the preliminary card will appear on ESPNews and ESPN+. We have the whole card for you along with sports betting predictions for the title fights.
UFC 280: Oliveira vs Makhachev Preview
Main Card (Pay Per View)
- Charles Oliveira vs Islam Makhachev (UFC Lightweight Championship)
- Aljamain Sterling vs T.J. Dillashaw (UFC Bantamweight Championship)
- Petr Yan vs Sean O’Malley (Bantamweight)
- Beneil Dariush vs Mateusz Gamrot (Lightweight)
- Katlyn Chookagian vs Manon Fiorot (Catchweight – 127 ½ lbs)
Preliminary Card (ESPN+ / ESPNews)
- Belal Muhammad vs Sean Brady (Welterweight)
- Makhmud Muradov vs Caio Borralho (Middleweight)
- Nikita Krylov vs Volkan Oezdemir (Light Heavyweight)
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs Gadzhi Omargadzhiev (Welterweight)
Charles Oliveira (33-8, 21-8 UFC, +160) vs Islam Makhachev (22-1, 11-1 UFC, -190) is the latest step in Oliveira’s journey, which started in UFC in 2010, when he came into the promotion by submitting Darren Elkins and Efrain escudero. His “reward” for those early wins was a series of bouts against top talents, such as Jim Miller and Donald Cerrone, but that jump in competition proved to be extremely challenging. After that, his career followed a seesaw trajectory. He struggled to make weight reliably and was inconsistent with his results until ran off four wins in a row, including a victory against David Teymur in 2019. He won despite getting poked in the eye several times, fighting through adversity to get the submission. After that, he kept on winning an earned a shot at the vacant lightweight title in 2021 against Michael Chandler, and he won. He defended against Dustin Poirier and beat Justin Gaethje despite being a half-pound over weight.
Makhachev comes to the Octagon for his first shot at the title, despite being in UFC since 2015. He is a patient fighter who likes to follow his process to get wins. He lost his UFC debut, getting knocked out in the second minute of the fight by Adriano Martins. After that, he has just kept winning, including wins over Arman Tsarukyan and Davi Ramos. Wins over Dan Hooker and Bobby Green have been convincing but have not featured elite competition, as he has shown an ability to finish. Both of these fighters like to go to the ground, as Oliveira lives on submission wins, while Makhachev also likes to get the wrestling going early. Expect Oliveira to blitz Makhachev from the start, but it will be interesting to see how these two fare against opponents who not only do not fear the ground but welcome it. Given that this is basically a coin flip, I’m taking the value.
Final Prediction: Oliveira wins via decision
Aljamain Sterling (21-3, 13-3 UFC, -175) vs T.J. Dillashaw (17-4, 13-4 UFC, +150) is just the latest installment in an outstanding career by Sterling. He joined UFC in 2014 and ran off four straight convincing wins. He had a striking game that went heavy on the kicks, but the lack of efficiency and lack of connection to his wrestling led to some tough losses on the cards to Bryan Caraway and Raphael Assuncao. Marlon Moraes knocked him out with a head kick in just 1:07 of the first round, which looked like the end for his title hopes. However, he started another winning streak that included a 2019 win on the cards over Jimmie Rivera, a bout that finally showed striking that was powerful and high in volume. His title bout against Petr Yan was going poorly, as Sterling wore out quickly and was losing on the wrestling end, but then Yan used an illegal knee to knock out Sterling, which gave Sterling the title via disqualification. Sterling won the rematch 13 months later.
Dillashaw is a former champion looking to take the belt back; he beat Renan Barao in 2014 to take the title in a huge upset. He remains one of the best bantamweights in the world; he lost the title via split decision and has since fought an injury layoff, but now he comes back looking to post another upset. Sterling has the superior physical talent and looks more evolved in his style.
Final Prediction: Sterling wins via decision
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