UFC 280 Oliveira vs. Makhachev

When Khabib Nurmagomedov vacated the UFC’s light-weight championship and retired from blended martial arts two years in the past, the game’s expectations turned to his longtime teammate and protégé, Islam Makhachev. And now his time has come.

Makhachev (22-1) will try and win the UFC’s 155-pound title on Saturday when he meets Charles Oliveira (33-8) in the primary occasion of UFC 280 inside Etihad Enviornment in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The pay-per-view airs at a particular time of two p.m. ET.

The timing of the matchup most likely could not be any higher. Makhachev was at all times anticipated to struggle for the belt sooner or later, and he’ll now accomplish that towards a foe in Oliveira whom nobody needs to guess towards. Oliveira has battled by adversity in every of his three title defenses towards Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje earlier than incomes a end.

The Brazilian fighter has received 11 in a row, securing 10 finishes within the course of. The one cause he’s not technically the light-weight champion this week is that he missed weight by one-half pound forward of his most up-to-date win towards Gaethje in Could.

Along with the primary occasion, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (21-3) will defend his title towards TJ Dillashaw (17-4), who surrendered it in 2019 after he examined constructive for a banned substance. And fan favourite Sean O’Malley (15-1) will face the most important check of his profession in Petr Yan (16-3).

Comply with alongside as Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim recap the fights as they occur, or watch the cardboard dwell on ESPN+ PPV.

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Struggle in progress: Girls’s bantamweight: Lina Lansberg (10-6, 4-5 UFC, +260) vs. Karol Rosa (15-4, 4-1 UFC, -330)

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Nonetheless to come back:

Light-weight championship: Charles Oliveira (33-8 1 NC, 21-8 1 NC UFC, +160) vs. Islam Makhachev (22-1, 11-1 UFC, -190)
Males’s bantamweight championship: Aljamain Sterling (c) (21-3, 13-3 UFC, -165) vs. TJ Dillashaw (18-4, 13-4 UFC, +140)
Males’s bantamweight: Petr Yan (16-3, 8-2 UFC, -280) vs. Sean O’Malley (15-1 1 NC, 7-1 1 NC UFC, +230)
Light-weight: Beneil Dariush (21-4-1, 15-4-1 UFC, +170) vs. Mateusz Gamrot (21-1, 4-1 UFC, -200)
Girls’s flyweight: Katlyn Chookagian (18-4, 11-4 UFC, +175) vs. Manon Fiorot (9-1, 4-0 UFC, -210)
Welterweight: Belal Muhammad (21-3 1 NC, 12-1 1 NC UFC, +120) vs. Sean Brady (15-0, 5-0 UFC, -140)
Middleweight: Makhmud Muradov (25-7,3-1 UFC, +170) vs. Caio Borralho (12-1, 2-0 UFC, -200)
Mild heavyweight: Nikita Krylov (28-9, 9-7 UFC, -170) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (18-6, 6-5 UFC, +145)
Welterweight: Abubakar Nurmagomedov (16-3-1, 1-1 UFC, -165) vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev (13-1, 0-1 UFC, +140)
Middleweight: Armen Petrosyan (7-2, 1-1 UFC, -220) vs. AJ Dobson (6-1, 0-1 UFC, +180)
Males’s flyweight: Malcolm Gordon (14-5, 2-2 UFC, +750) vs. Muhammad Mokaev (8-0, 2-0 UFC, -1200)
(c) = defending champion