Watch Charles Oliveira vs Islam Makhachev UFC 280 Live online and Free TV Channel #UFC280
Elsewhere, Yan is also back in action when he takes on rising contender Sean O’Malley. “Suga” is looking to enter the title picture against his toughest competition to date. Another bout between potential contenders is also on the main card when Matuesz Gamrot takes on Beneil Dariush at lightweight. Plus, welterweight contenders Belal Muhammad and Sean Brady are set to throw down in the featured prelim bout with plenty at stake.
With so much happening on Saturday night, let’s take a closer look at the full fight card with the latest odds from Caesars Sportsbook before we get to our staff predictions and picks for the PPV portion of the festivities.
How can I watch it?
Islam Makhachev (pictured) is coached in part by childhood friend and former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov
(Getty Images)
The card will air live on BT Sport Box Office in the UK – at a cost of £19.95 – with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights
Time for the big ones – starting with Dariush vs Gamrot
Gamrot is sensational and is on the rise but will never have faced anyone like Dariush. The Iranian-born American is in the conversation for a title shot but cannot quite get the level of hype around him to demand it. Fair play to him for taking on a lower ranked, hungry contender, he’s got his work cut out tonight.
Fiorot wins by unanimous decision
‘The Beast’ earns the biggest win of her career so far and earns the dubious prize of heading towards a clash with Valentina Shevchenko.
‘I think everyone in the division will talk about Valentina, I’m no different,’ she says.
In the hands of the judges
Fiorot secured a takedown late in the third and in a close fight it may just have made the difference. I certainly wouldn’t like to put any money on it though. One punter put $250,000 on a finish!
The third will decide it
Not exactly one for the ages so far. Both are looking busy without staying that busy but Fioriot is now the favourite on the live odds. It looks like 1-1 on the cards to me.
Competitive first five mins
Fioriot landed a lovely right hand early on and Chookagian narrowly missed with a headkick that could have proved decisive. An even contest so far and one of these women needs to grab it by the scruff of the neck to use that tired old football cliche.
First up – Katlyn Chookagian vs Manon Fiorot
A No 1 vs No 6 flyweight curtain raiser for the main card here and the only women’s fight on the card between two classy operators.
Here’s how Dan Hardy sees it…
Hardy is one of the most thoughtful and incisive analysts in the game and gave his thoughts to Sportsmail on tonight’s main event.
Of all the many plot points surrounding UFC 280 this Saturday, the weight of psychological pressure on Islam Makhachev is among the most fascinating.
Table of Contents
UFC 280 fight card, odds
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
Islam Makhachev -190 vs. Charles Oliveira +160, vacant lightweight title
Aljamain Sterling (c) -175 vs. TJ Dillashaw +150, bantamweight title
Petr Yan -270 vs. Sean O’Malley +220, bantamweights
Matuesz Gamrot -190 vs. Beneil Dariush +160, lightweights
Manon Fiorot -210 vs. Katlyn Chookagian +175, women’s flyweights
Sean Brady -140 vs. Belal Muhammad +120, welterweights
Caio Borralho -200 vs. Makhmud Muradov +170, middleweights
Nikita Krylov -170 vs. Volkan Oezdemir +145, light heavyweights
Abubakar Nurmagomedov -165 vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev +140, welterweights
Armen Petrosyan -220 vs. A.J. Dobson +180, middleweights
Muhammad Mokaev -1000 vs. Malcolm Gordon +650, flyweights
Karol Rosa -300 vs. Lina Lansberg +240, women’s bantamweights
With such a massive main event on tap, the crew at CBS Sports went ahead with predictions and picks for the main card. Here are your pick makers: Brent Brookhouse (Combat sports writer), Brian Campbell (Combat sports writer, co-host of “Morning Kombat”), Shakiel Mahjouri (writer), Michael Mormile (producer) and Brandon Wise (senior editor).
Mahjouri: Saturday’s main event is a coin toss, the perfect pairing of stakes and intrigue. Oliveira has repeatedly proven that avoiding the ground game will only delay the inevitable. Oliveira will eventually knock you down or take you down and finish the fight. Perhaps Makhachev presents the answer in the form of a strategic takedown game and stifling top control. There is just something about Oliveira’s striking improvements and record-setting submission game that makes me side with him, especially considering the leap in competition for Makhachev. I’ve been guilty of picking against Oliveira multiple times. I think I’ll rock with “Do Bronx” this time.
Sterling vs. Dillashaw
Campbell: As long as his body holds up at 36 following yet another one-year layoff and major knee surgery, Dillashaw has the dynamic skills, well-rounded game and temperament to be a major problem for Sterling. He also has more ways to potentially win, meaning Sterling’s chances somewhat depend upon him executing his gameplan effectively and maintaining control. The problem is that Dillashaw is rarely dominated in wrestling the way former champion Petr Yan was in his rematch loss to Sterling. Dillashaw has the motor to go late and the grit to fight through anything in order to get there, similar to how he scratched and clawed through four rounds on one leg last time against Cory Sandhagen. If Dillashaw can turn this into more of a kickboxing match, he just might have the edge against the often criminally underrated defending champion. While we can’t ignore Dillashaw’s shady past in terms of drug testing, we must equally admit that age, injury and layoffs have not done much to downgrade his elite standing. The very best of Dillashaw remains as difficult to beat as anyone in this historically deep division.
Brookhouse: When he is on his game, Sterling is a very effective fighter who can change a fight on a single mistake from his opponent. Were Dillashaw more active, I may lean toward him and his combination of boxing and counter-wrestling. Instead, Dillashaw has one fight since January 2019, a split decision win over Cory Sandhagen in a fight where it seemed Sandhagen deserved the nod. A Dillashaw win isn’t out of the question by any stretch, but Sterling may simply be able to outwork a rusty fighter in a very close bout.
Mahjouri: Sterling and Dillashaw both have awkward footwork and plenty of wrestling experience in their back pockets. Sterling’s win over Yan was narrow, but it showed growth in the aftermath of the fight he appeared to be losing 11 months prior before a disqualification earned him the title. Dillashaw is certainly no slouch, but I have doubts about how far he can take this comeback having only fought once in the last 33 months. A split-decision win over Sandhagen was a great first step, but Sandhagen remains a rung below championship level. Expect Sterling and Dillashaw to play for points before Sterling eventually gets the takedown and takes over.
Yan vs. O’Malley
Campbell: Is Yan a better overall fighter with a much more respected resume versus elite competition? There’s no question about it. But rarely has MMA seen a fighter as dynamic and confident come up the ranks like O’Malley. The truth is we just don’t know how good O’Malley really is or whether he actually does have the type of intangibles needed to put his injury TKO loss to Marlon Vera behind him. But given O’Malley’s huge upside commercially and the time already missed for suspensions and slow matchmaking, it’s time to find out right now. O’Malley already knows a victory would allow him to leapfrog the field at 135 pounds and secure the next shot at the title. Even if he’s not better than Yan and even if he never fully lives up to the enormous hype which has followed him, that doesn’t mean O’Malley doesn’t still win. He’s long, explosive and creative. And provided he can hurt Yan enough early to try and activate the former champion’s desperate want to avoid a three-fight losing skid, O’Malley just might be able to line him up with the type of explosion which could end the fight. “Suga” certainly has the type of red-hot momentum, even with his inconclusive result against Pedro Munhoz, to exclaim that it’s certainly possible.
Mahjouri: This is a steep, steep step-up in competition for O’Malley. Yan is a measured and slow starter, but he should be conscious to pick things up after the first round. O’Malley is a sniper on the feet but the direction of his fight with Pedro Munhoz, prior to the unfortunate no-contest, did not suggest to me that he is ready for a world title shot. Yan has the patience to avoid recklessness and the power to make O’Malley wither. A slow start is likely, but I expect Yan will take over in the second round and get O’Malley out of there before 15 minutes are up.
Brookhouse: O’Malley can get the win if he brings his aggression to the Octagon. That said, the tougher the opponent, the more hesitant O’Malley has been in the Octagon. He looked positively frozen by the threat of Pedro Munhoz in his last outing and Munhoz wasn’t doing much in that fight. Look for Yan to work over O’Malley’s legs at range and just put out enough output that freezes O’Malley and leads to a clear decision
Gamrot is sensational and is on the rise but will never have faced anyone like Dariush. The Iranian-born American is in the conversation for a title shot but cannot quite get the level of hype around him to demand it. Fair play to him for taking on a lower ranked, hungry contender, he’s got his work cut out tonight.