UFC

ABU DHABI – The UFC 280 fight card is now official following Friday's weigh-in session, where 23 of 24 athletes scheduled to compete successfully hit their ...

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We look ahead to UFC 280 with some predictions for the fights including Charles Oliveira vs Islam Makhachev and Petr Yan vs Sean O'Malley.

I believe he’s destined for the top and will grind his way to the biggest victory of his UFC career on Saturday night. The 33-year-old is a veteran of the 125lb landscape heading into the 16th fight of her lengthy UFC career – but Chookagian has only challenged for UFC gold on one occasion previously. Book your seat now for UFC 280, exclusively live on Saturday 22 October from 5pm on BT Sport Box Office. He’ll need to be careful on the mat though with O’Malley an accomplished jiu-jitsu brown belt despite rarely relying on his grappling over the course of his UFC career to date. Yan’s boxing might well be the most polished attribute of his skillset but he remains one of the most well-rounded fighters in the promotion and could look to utilise takedowns in order to negate O’Malley’s physical advantage. A black belt under the tutelage of his coach and former UFC champion Matt Serra, Sterling is an opportunist who uses his athleticism to take advantage of chaotic scrambles for position. However, I believe experience could be the key to success at UFC 280 with Oliveira by far the more battle-tested of the two men having fought against the best of the best for a number of years now. Also a talented grappler – albeit Division III, not the same calibre as Dillashaw – Sterling has found his success in the UFC thanks to an uncanny ability to find a way to his opponent’s back. [TJ Dillashaw](https://www.bt.com/sport/ufc/fighters/tj-dillashaw) is the perfect opponent to test him given the credentials of his challenger on Saturday night. To state the obvious, this fight will be won and lost in the battle for supremacy on the ground; if Makhachev is as good as those in his corner have relentlessly claimed, he should be able to control Oliveira from top position and inflict some serious damage on a man who cuts notoriously easily. His ability to control the contest on the ground will be tested to its limits against Oliveira however, with the 33-year-old Brazilian the most prolific submission artist in UFC history with 16 finishes to his name. [Charles Oliveira](https://www.bt.com/sport/ufc/fighters/charles-oliveira) against the most dominant contender in the division, [Islam Makhachev](https://www.bt.com/sport/ufc/fighters/islam-makhachev), in a battle that could turn out any which way of a million possibilities.

SportsLine's Kyle Marley reveals his UFC 280 picks and predictions for Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev in Abu Dhabi.

Dobson (+175) Armen Petrosyan (-200) vs. Dillashaw (+155) Aljamain Sterling (-175) vs. Dillashaw (+155). Muhammad (21-3-1) is known for his nonstop pace that involves a combination of grappling, wrestling and striking. In the co-main event, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (-175) defends his title against No. The late-blooming Oliveira (33-8-1) had lost four of six and appeared headed toward journeyman status before he embarked on his current winning streak. Marley also has strong picks for Oliveira vs. This probably comes down to who is having success in the wrestling, and I will side with Muhammad," Marley told SportsLine. Makhachev is a -190 favorite (risk $190 to win $100), while Oliveira comes back at +170 in the latest UFC 280 odds from Caesars Sportsbook. But to become champion he must get past the top-ranked Oliveira, who has won 11 straight fights and has dominated the division since the turn of the decade.

Volkanovski, the UFC featherweight champion, will be the backup fighter in the UFC lightweight title bout between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev.

By beating Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 in what became a non-title fight, Oliveira became the number one contender for the title. At the UFC 274 weigh-ins, Oliveira weighed in at 155.5, half a pound over championship weight. “What’s the point of doing that if that person that missed weight wins, and then the belt is still vacant? “If someone misses weight, I’m going to be in,”Volkanovski went on to say. Recovering from a broken thumb he suffered at UFC 276 against Max Holloway, Volkanovski stated on his YouTube page he is ready to go. Oliveira was stripped of the belt as a result.

The rising Brazilian middleweight had spent his last three fights inside the UFC APEX dating back to his contract-winning performance on Dana White's Contender ...

[O'Malley Interview](https://www.ufc.com/video/sean-omalley-fight-week-interview-ufc-280-oliveira-makhachev) [Sterling Interview](https://www.ufc.com/video/aljamain-sterling-fight-week-interview-ufc-280-oliveira-makhachev) [Dillashaw Interview](https://www.ufc.com/video/tj-dillashaw-fight-week-interview-ufc-280-oliveira-makhachev) [Makhachev Interview](https://www.ufc.com/video/islam-makhachev-sit-down-interview-ufc-280-oliveira-vs-makhachev-lightweight-abu-dhabi) [Charles Oliveira: The Champion Has A Name](https://www.ufc.com/news/charles-oliveira-the-champion-has-a-name-ufc-280-oliveira-vs-makhachev) [Visit Abu Dhabi](http://www.abudhabievents.ae/) [Countdown](https://www.ufc.com/video/ufc-280-countdown-charles-oliveira-islam-makhachev-sterling-vs-dillashaw-yan-vs-omalley-in-abu-dhabi) [Follow on Twitter](https://twitter.com/visitabudhabi) [Main Event Breakdown](https://www.ufc.com/video/ufc-breakdown-ufc-280-oliveira-vs-makhachev) There are a lot of bigger guys than me on this (UFC 280) card, but in Brazil I need to be the main card. And despite being seen driving around Abu Dhabi this fight week in the kind of sports car that makes other sports cars jealous, he’s quick to point out that it’s a rental that merely looks good on Instagram. So I'm ready to go and excited to fight in front of the fans.”

Conor McGregor almost started a mass brawl while filming 'The Ultimate Fighter' with a few of his high-profile UFC colleagues.In 2015, after knocking.

I’m not willing to be theatrical and all over the place, so you’ve got to hone in on his work ethic and that was something he did great at.” I guess you don’t really realise how much work you have to put into the promotion to become a superstar like that. I’m looking forward to a fight with him,” Garbrandt told FOX Sports in 2015. “To do the s*** he had to do is a lot of work and a lot of the time it’s stuff I’m not willing to do. “At the beginning of my career I liked to hate on him because I was the champion at the time and he was trying to make his way up. That’s kind of how it has to be.