Introduction

The UFC for the last few years has put on some great Fight cards, but this event taking place this weekend has the potential to be the greatest of all time. From Oliveira vs Makhachev to Dariush vs Gamrot, this card is one of the most insane I have ever seen. This is one of those cards you would create in your mind as “the perfect card” but never actually imagine it happening. Today, hours before the card, I wanted to talk about some of the things that are standing out to me most from this card, and how I expect these things to play out in the octagon.

A “Real” Champ Post Khabib

For the first time since Khabib Nurmagomedov, the Lightweight division in the UFC will have a real champion. Of course, Charles Oliveira became the champion at UFC 263 before having it stripped at UFC 274, but the shadow of Islam Makhachev loomed over Oliveira his entire championship reign. After every major Charles Oliviera win, such as beating Poirier or Gathje, the question after each fight would be “how would Islam Makhachev have done?” Even in Khabib’s reign, there was the question of how Khabib would do against Tony Ferguson. Mind you, that find never happened, but this fight tomorrow night is the closest thing we will see to that iconic Khabib vs Tony matchup. In terms of how this fight plays out, I become more split the more footage of these two I watch. Both of these fighters love to push the pace, and the first minute of the fight will be very telling to see who dictates the pace of the fight. Islam to me is a much better pure grappler, but Oliveira is arguably better at submissions, especially off his back. Makhachev’s striking is underrated (and much better than Khabib’s striking), but in no world do I see Islam deciding to stand with Oliviera and getting knocked out. I think Islam will try and immediately shoot for a takedown, but for the first minute of the fight will try and feel out Oliveira on the feet to get him comfortable in the octagon. I am picking Charles Oliveira to win this fight by KO within 3 and you can these predictions more in depth in the article linked below), but I would not be shocked if Islam grappled his way to a unanimous decision. Regardless, this is one of the rare occasions when the two clear best in the division fight it out for the belt, and it will be a treat to watch Saturday afternoon.

G.O.A.T Bantamweight

Aljamain Sterling has a chance to prove himself as the G.O.A.T UFC Male bantamweight if he wins on Saturday. Now, the general consensus is that Dominick Cruz is the greatest bantamweight of all time, but most of the justification for this opinion is his accomplishments back in the WEC days. On top of that, some of the best names on his list outside of T.J Dillashaw were in a weight class under Cruz. Fighters like Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson are naturally 125 pounders (flyweights), but at the time, WEC did not have a flyweight division, forcing them to fight at bantamweight. Dominick Cruz has an insane side advantage against some, if not most of his competition which only enabled his success. Yes, Dominick Cruz did comeback after a 3 year injury-induced layoff to beat Dillashaw to become a two-time Bantamweight Champion, but his only defense was against a washed up Uriah Faber, and got dominated by Cody Garbrandt in his second title defense. Since the Garbrandt fight, Cruz has gone 2–2 in his last four, and has never really climbed back into the title fight, except for the Henry Cejudo fight during the pandemic in which he got finished. I am not saying Cruz is not one of the best ever, but I do think we sometimes overrate Cruz in terms of his actual accomplishments in the UFC. Now, let us look at Aljamain Sterling. His victory over Petr Yan alone (I’m not counting the first fight that ended in a DQ in his favor) is a better win than most of Dominick Cruz’s wins in his career. Aljamain’s dismantling of Cory Sandhagen for a title shot was also a marvel to watch, and up until then, we had seen nobody man handle Cory the way Aljo did. Since his third fight in the UFC, Aljamain has always been a top 10 bantamweight in the UFC, his victories are much more impressive overall competition wise than the wins in Cruz’s career. If Aljamain beats Tj Dillashaw convincingly, in my opinion, Aljamain Sterling will have more than a leg to stand on in the bantamweight G.O.A.T. debate. I do not think Aljamain Sterling is thinking about that going into his fight with Dillashaw, but I do feel that if Aljamain wins, we will be having a very different discussion of how we view Aljamain Sterling. Tj Dillashaw will also have a seat at the G.O.A.T table, but his steroid usage to me has tainted his career and his accomplishments to a great extent.

Lightweight’s Next #1 Contender

You could argue that Michael Chandler vs Dustin Poirier is the number one contender fight for the UFC Lightweight Division, but in my opinion, I feel that the next challenger for the lightweight belt is the winner Beneil Dariush vs Mateusz Gamrot. In my opinion, these two are the most skilled in the division outside of the main event, and could go either way. Mateusz is a much more offensive wrestler than Dariush at times, but Beneil is so slick on the ground with submissions that I am not sure if it would be wise for Gamrot to take Beneil down. This leads to me thinking that this fight will be primarily standing, and that is where it gets interesting. Gamrot is by far more polished on the feet, but Beneil has made some major improvements in that area throughout the years. I also think that Beneil has way more power than Gamrot, with Beneil having some iconic finishes with his hands, while most of Gamrot’s finishes come from the ground work. If Beneil pushes the pressure with his hands, I do think he could put Gamrot’s lights out, but at the same time Gamrot could just pick him apart from range and win that way. I would pick Dariush to win by split decision, but in all honesty this is an insanely hard fight to call. I will make a bold claim at the end here, and say I am willing to bet that after this fight that we will not only know who the number one contender is, but the winner of this fight will dethrone the winner of Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira in the near future.

Sean O’Malley : Fraud or The Real Deal?

Sean O’Malley has the rare opportunity as a fighter to prove his hype against the number one contender in the division. Petr Yan has chewed through most of the bantamweight division, and outside of Aljamain Sterling, has had his way with everyone in his tenure in the UFC. The obvious pick in this fight is Petr Yan due to how Yan dismantled Cory Sandhean last year in Abu Dhabi, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Sean O’Malley can get it done. First of all, this fight is only 3 rounds, which works against Yan’s favor. Yan is always a slow starter, and tends to drop the first two rounds in order to dominate in the third round and onward. This is fine in five round fights, but in a three round fight, this could cause Yan to lose the first two rounds of his matchup with O’Malley tomorrow afternoon. O’Malley, unlike Sandhagen, has freakish power for the 135 division as well as a large reach advantage over Yan (5 inches), and could use his power shots early on in the first 2 rounds in order to stifle Yan enough in order to win the fight. The more likely outcome of this fight is for Petr Yan to walk right through Sean and bully him until he breaks, but do not be surprised if this is the best Sean O’Malley we have seen yet. I’m rocking with Petr Yan to win this fight, but as they say, anything can happen in MMA.

For the record, I made that last part up.

Conclusion

With that being said, we are in for a treat this weekend. UFC 280 is one of the greatest UFC Cards of all time, and I expect it to deliver even more than we think. From top to bottom this card is loaded with talent, potential number one contenders, and rising stars who are getting a big stage for the first time in their careers. As a sports fan, this is one of those events that I am privileged to be able to experience in my lifetime. Expect an overall summary of the card after it happens, and possibly a semi-live written reaction to most fights on this card. This Sunday is also a crazy stacked day for football, and the NBA is in full swing along with the MLB Playoffs. Fall sports are always a treat, so look forward to more articles about everything that is going to be happening within the next few weeks. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the article and I will see you in the next one.