UFC 280 has been the most anticipated MMA event of the year and it finally happened on October 22nd. After months of buildup, we saw the Light Heavyweight Championship change hands and fighters prove themselves in the octagon. The stage for the main bout was set in May when Light Heavyweight Champion Charles “Da Bronx” Oliviera was stripped of the belt after failing to make weight for his defense UFC 274. A fight was made in July for UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi where Oliviera was given the chance to regain the belt in a fight against Islam Makhachev,a Khabib disciple who has been on a warpath for the gold for a while now. Both men were undefeated for several years leading to this fight. These two titans clashing for the gold had fans clamoring for this event.

Manon Fiorot defeated Kaitlyn Chookagian in the opening catchweight bout by unanimous decision, pushing Fiorot closer to facing Flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko. Beneil Dariush also gained a unanimous decision win in a lightweight bout with Mateusz Gamrot. “Sugar” Sean O’Malley defeated Petr Yan in a split decision bantamweight fight. The fight was praised and won Fight of the Night but the result was controversial. Many fighters took to twitter to say Yan was robbed of the win, others thought this was simply biased against O’Malley due to his colorful persona. Regardless of this, the meteoric of “Sugar Sean” continues as he climbs the bantamweight rankings. 

During the moments between fights, a mild brawl broke out between Khamzat Chimaev and Abubakar Nurmagomedov. The two argued and threw punches at the cage side before being separated. The two’s disagreement was allegedly peacefully resolved following a talk with mutual friend, and Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. This created more controversy with many feeling UFC and its fighters should not associate with Kadyrov, who has been accused of crimes against humanity and is an ardent supporter of Vladimir Putin.

The penultimate fight was for the Bantamweight Championship. TJ Dillashaw looked to get back on track following injuries and a two year suspension and regain his gold. He faced the champion Aljamain Sterling. During the fight it appeared that Dillashaw’s shoulder was injured and he appeared to pop it back in at one point. Sterling devastated Dillashaw with a series of takedowns and punches and won by TKO 3 minutes and 44 seconds into round two. Dillashaw confirmed he had a nagging shoulder injury post-fight and apologized to the division for still taking the fight

The long awaited main event between Oliviera and Makhachev. The two men brought out the best in each other but Makhachev caught Oliviera with a punch and was able to slap on an arm triangle choke and Oliviera tapped out in the 2nd round. This marked the end of the 11 fight win streak that turned “Da Bronx” into a superstar. Khabib celebrated with his pupil in the octagon and the era of Islam Makhachev has now truly begun. 

UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira is November 12th at Madison Square Garden. The UFC Fight Night series continues on ESPN+. You can watch UFC via pay-per view, ESPN+, and other providers.