The UFC is back in the UAE for one of the BIGGEST cards of the year, UFC 280. The main card features two massive world title fights as Charles Oliveira takes on Islam Makhachev for the vacant Lightweight title. For the Bantamweight title will be the defending champion, “Funk Master” Aljamain Sterling, against former champion and self-proclaimed Bantamweight greatest of all time, T.J Dillashaw.
Also featured on the main card will be some pivotal matchups in the above-respected divisions, which will have the champ’s and challengers’ eyes firmly fixed on them.
Former champ and number 1 ranked Bantamweight Petr Yan looks to derail the hype of number 11 ranked Suga Sean O’Malley. President Dana White pretty much confirmed the winner will fight Saturday night’s co-main event winner for the title next.
Scrapping just before them will be number 6 ranked UFC veteran Beneil Dariush. Beneil is on a 7-fight winning streak against Polish phenom Mateusz Gamrot. Gamrot enters the cage on a 4-fight-win streak and a super impressive 22-1 (1) record. An impressive performance could see either fighter enter the realm of title talk.
Starting the main card is a fight between two ladies right at the top of the Women’s Flyweight division. Number 1-ranked Katlyn Chookagian will stand across the cage from 6-ranked Manon Fiorot. French native Manon is 9-1, winning her past nine, and of those nine, six have come via TKO. Chookagian has won her last four outings and once challenged Flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko. A win would certainly bring either woman in line for the next title shot. Katlyn will look for revenge, and Manon will bring new blood to the division.
UFC 280 Breakdown
Lightweight Title Fight: Charles Oliveira vs Islam Makhachev
Charles has taken the MMA world by storm lately. To many, a win this weekend may cement him at their Lightweight best of all time, dethroning Khabib Nurmagomedov. He’s won his last 11 fights, and 10 of those came via finish. He also has the record for most finishes in the UFC, with 19. His last three fights have all been for the Lightweight title. All three contenders, Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirer and Justin Gaethje, all falling to the Brazillian.
Although finishing his three title fight fights, Charles has looked susceptible to being hurt in each fight. In the first fight with Chandler, Chandler almost finished Charles with punches and more than likely scored a 10-8 in that first round. However, just 19 seconds into the second round, Charles knocked out Chandler. His next two fights would be almost identical, getting dropped multiple times but finding staying relaxed and finishing his opponent.
Islam Makhachev is the prodigy of Khabib and his late father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. From the mountains of Dagestan to sunny San Jose, Islam has trained with savages his whole career. AKA coach Javier Mendez claims Islam is the best in every department in the Lightweight division. The best striker included. In his 23-fight career, he only has a sole loss to what some might call a fluke knockout. Since then, he has won 10 in a row, seemingly without breaking a sweat. Although one little nag I have with this matchup is that Charles has fought top contenders, whereas Islam, due to no fault of his own, has yet to face a top 5 fighter. And as they say, you’re only as good as your last fight?
Prediction
How do I see the fight panning out? I think Islam will decide to shoot early on Charles. His heavy grappling approach and smothering could nullify Charles’ Jiu Jitsu early on. I think we could see Charles work his way back up or even reverse some positions if there is a scramble. But I think Islam will win the first two rounds and land some accumulative ground and pounds. Stepping out into the third, I think Charles has more success keeping it on the feet, scoring with the judges and gaining confidence. Round 4 is my predicted round. The round where we see a finish. The round where champions are made. I think Islam will earn that final takedown, mentally tax Charles and finish with a TKO. The Lightweight title will return to Dagestan.
Staff picking Makhachev: Jed Leon, James Rees
Staff picking Oliveira: Lewis Hart, Lewis Glover, Ella Earle, Lewis Simpson, Chris Thomas.
Aljamain Sterling vs T.J Dillashaw
Sterling is coming off two back-to-back victories over number 1 contender Petr Yan. Their first fight ended in a DQ win for Sterling after Yan illegally landed a knee to his head, rendering him unable to continue. The MMA community largely slated Sterling for being over theatrical to the illegal strike. But taking a knee to the head probably sucks, right? Since then, Aljamain rematched Yan and earned a split-decision victory over the Russian fighter. Many of the UFC roster and MMA community counted Sterling out of the fight completely, dubbing Yan as the future pound-for-pound king. Putting the DQ win to bed.
T.J Dillashaw is one of the best Bantamweights of all time. He claims he is the best of all time, and you could argue that, but Dominick Cruz may say otherwise. Dillashaw rose to the top in 2014. Pretty much-stopping everyone in his path (except Cruz). He would then look for double-champ status, moving down a weight to fight for the Flyweight strap. He would go on to lose this fight in the opening round and, more so, pop on the USADA radar for testing positive for the banned substance EPO. T.J would be banned from competing for two years. Upon his return to the sport, he battled Cory Sandhagen over five rounds. His creative striking, forward pressure mixed with grappling earned him the nod from the judges, although badly cut and bloodied by Sandhagen.
Prediction
The prediction for this fight is that we will see the judges. I think early on, we will see TJ keep Sterling on the back foot, against the cage, popping shots. Scoring a possible round or two through the course of 25 minutes. However, I think their grappling and backpack fight style of Sterling will be able to frustrate TJ, scoring and stealing rounds in the eyes of the judges. If T.J. is to win this fight, I think he will need to land big, maybe catching Aljamain coming in for a takedown.
Staff picking Sterling: Jed Leon, Chris Thomas, Ella Earle
Staff Picking Dillashaw: James Rees, Lewis Glover, Lewis Hart, Lewis Simpson
Petr Yan vs Sean O’Malley
As above, you can see Petr Yan is coming off a loss. He, like TJ, did best Cory Sandhagen over five rounds but then did lose the title to Sterling before that with the controversial DQ. Before all that, Yan was widely considered one of the best in MMA. He brings ferocity, dynamic striking and aggressiveness to the cage. He wiped out former legends Jose Also and Urijah Faber.
Sean O’Malley burst onto the MMA scene in 2017 when he stole the show at Dana White’s Contender Series. Racking up five knockouts in his 7 UFC wins. His only loss is to top Bantamweight contender Chito Vera. In their fight, O’Malley seemed to lose control of his lead leg due to a heavy leg kick from Vera, which Vera capitalized on and finished Sean. Sean will state he is still undefeated, but the official record states otherwise (sorry, Sean). Outside of fighting, Sean has made a name for himself, flashing neon-coloured Ferraris and hanging out with social media stars and celebrities. The fame, alongside with his flash style in and out of the cage, has made him one of the biggest names in MMA.
Who will win? Yan is extremely aggressive in the cage. I think he will back O’Malley up and look to clinch early, land some inside elbows, disengage and repeat early. Possibly look to butcher the leg of Sean, comprising his mobility and movement. I think Yan will take the 1st round. After this, I really think the fight becomes O’Malley’s. Using distance, spins and reach to frustrate Petr. Sean is extremely accurate on the feet. Keeping the distance will be crucial to his success. Ultimately, I think Sean will win a UD. If this fight was over five rounds, I think Yan would win, but in the 3, Sean can edge it.
Staff picking Yan: Lewis Simpson, Chris Thomas, Ella Earle, James Rees, Lewis Glover, Lewis Hart
Staff picking O’Malley: Jed Leon
Beneil Dariush vs Mateusz Gamrot
Beneil Dariush is a fighter everybody should know. He’s fought a who’s who of fighters in the Lightweight division. He’s also a man dangerous in all areas of combat. Five wins via knockout, eight by submission and eight by decision. He can knock you out cold, submit you unconscious or grind you out over 15 minutes.
Polish powerhouse Gamrot has earned four bonuses in his five UFC bouts and was the champion of Polish MMA organization KSW. Gamrot has definitely got the respect of the MMA community and his fight peers alike. In his last outing, he put in a solid performance against Arman Tsarukyan, beating the Armenian grappling specialist on the judge’s scorecards unanimously 48-47. Each fighter in this matchup has proved in the Octagon they can compete anywhere the fight goes.
Can you predict a draw? I really see this fight being HIGHLY competitive. I have pondered a winner for weeks, and I am still struggling to determine a winner. My gut thinks Gamrot will succeed more in the grappling and clinch exchanges. I can see Beneil being happy to work off his back if he has to, whereas I see Gamrot being more explosive from that position should he find himself there. I think, either way, we’ll see a fight two rounds to 1 after 15 minutes, but I just see Mateusz bringing it home for Poland.
Staff picking Dariush:
Staff picking Gamrot: Chris Thomas, Jed Leon, Ella Earle, James Rees, Lewis Glover, Lewis Hart, Lewis Simpson
Katlyn Chookagian vs Manon Fiorot
Katlyn Chookagian, otherwise known as the Queen of decisions. No disrespect intended! In fact, I praise her resilience in getting the job done against the top contenders in her division. She’s tall for the division, which allows her to dictate the fight a lot of the time. Whilst currently sitting at the number 1 spot in the women’s Flyweight rankings but with only three career finishes in 18 wins and ALL her wins inside the UFC coming via decision, will her opponent capitalize on not worrying about being stopped? Or will, like her peers before her, will she succumb to defeat by the scorecards to Katlyn?
French native and former snowboarding champion Manon Fiorot has looked nothing but exciting since her UFC debut. Going 4-0 in little over a year. Two finished and two decisions against solid-ranked opponents. She has an extensive Karate background which enables her to set up her explosive punching power with side kicks and great footwork.
Another tough one to call, and I think it’ll play out like the Beneil vs Mateusz fight but more striking-based. It’ll be a case of who wins each exchange. Will Katlyn use her reach advantage and keep Manon at bay from closing the distance and landing shots? I think she will, for a while. Although a taller, longer fighter, I think the hunger and explosiveness of Fiorot will overtake Chookagian’s point-style fighting. She’ll get inside and land big shots, hurt Katlyn towards the latter part of round 2 or 3. I think she more than likely wins a U.D., but as this card has that magic feel about it. I’m going to predict a 2nd round TKO for the French fighter.
Staff picking Chookagian: Lewis Hart, Ella Earle, James Rees, Lewis Glover, Lewis Simpson
Staff picking Fiorot: Jed Leon, Chris Thomas
What are your picks? Who do you think got the most picks right from the team?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
