Today will determine the best fighter in the world.
Charles Oliveira steps into the cage with Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 280 to decide the new lightweight champion.
With all due respect to Alexander Volkanovski, the winner of this bout will be the pound-for-pound best in the world. It is an incredibly hard fight to speculate, as Makhachev has manhandled opponents in a way that is foolish to imagine happening against Oliveira. The strongest indication of how this may unfold is the tale of the tape. Looking back at Oliveira’s most recent wins against Justin Gaethje, Dustin Porier, and Michael Chandler, he withstands their power before unleashing a vicious jiu-jitsu attack. Makhachev has never encountered anything like that, so today will show us if he can overcome that.
UFC 280 is a loaded card. Aljamain Sterling defends the bantamweight title against TJ Dillashaw, a meeting of the division’s past and present. Dillashaw will attempt to prove he is the same fighter that he was in 2018 when he successfully defended the belt against Cody Garbrandt. Since then, he has had two fights — a disastrous bout against Henry Cejudo where he lost and was caught cheating with banned substances, then suspended by USADA for three years. Dillashaw then returned last summer to defeat Cory Sandhagen in a five-round split decision, and he is set to check in for a wake up call — one that comes to all fighters — when Sterling remains a step ahead of him at all times today.
A second bantamweight bout is also extremely compelling, as Petr Yan fights Sean O’Malley. The winner will get a shot at the title, setting up Yan-Sterling III once the merciless Yan finishes O’Malley. There is another lightweight bout, too, pitting Beneil Dariush against Mateusz Gamrot. Dariush is seeking to prove he should still be in title consideration following his 17-month absence from the cage, while a hungry Gamrot now possesses a long-awaited chance to break into the top five of the division.
The only letdown of the card is that Katlyn Chookagian failed to make weight against Manon Fiorot in her flyweight bout. That disappointment is curbed by the Belal Muhammad-Sean Brady fight on the prelims, a key meeting of welterweights. Brady looks to extend his 15-fight undefeated to sixteen, while a win for Muhammad puts him atop the list of contenders for the winner of the Leon Edwards-Kamaru Usman trilogy bout.
UFC 280 has the potential to be the fight card of the year, and it is headlined by a fight that is must-see.
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