Best fights to watch at UFC 280 outside of Islam Makhachev vs Charles Oliveira in Abu Dhabi 

UFC 280 is undoubtedly the card of the year so far, stacked with eye-catching match-ups from the pre-lims onwards. 

Saturday night in Abu Dhabi will of course culminate with Islam Makhachev‘s lightweight title fight against Charles Oliveira. 

And while that will be the leading driver behind pay-per-view buys, the meat of the card is thick too. 

British representation comes in the form of Muhammad Mokaev, a great hope of the future who takes on Malcolm Gordon. 

While Volkan Oezdemir, Belal Muhammad and Beneil Dariush also feature before two incredible bantamweight battles towards the top of the card. 

Here, Sportsmail takes a look at the best of the rest of the fights at UFC 280.  

Muhammad Mokaev vs Malcolm Gordon

Bantamweight

The great British bantamweight hope, Mokaev sets himself incredibly high standards and was extremely unhappy with his last performance… even though he won. 

He secured a decision win over Charles Johnson in London and maintains that his goal is to become the youngest UFC champion in history. 

To do that, he needs statement victories to accelerate the rise and one over Gordon would certainly do that. 

Mokaev is a superb wrestler, ultra competitive and dangerous on the feet. He is vastly experienced at amateur level but still cutting his teeth at the top. 

Gordon has won his last two after dropping his opening two fights in the UFC and the Canadian may not match up well. He was controlled easily by Amir Albazi and Mokaev’s skillset is similar.  

Volkan Oezdemir vs Nikita Krylov 

Light-heavyweight 

A couple of European bruisers here. Oezdemir’s rise in 2017 was ridiculous and unexpected having arrived as a late replacement to scrap to victory over Ovince Saint-Preux. 

He then sparked out Jimi Manuwa and Misha Circunov to earn a title shot against Daniel Cormier and a slide began from there. 

‘No Time’ still possesses enormous power to trouble anyone in the division, perhaps anyone but Krylov who has a cast iron chin. He’s only been knocked out once and usually defeats come by way of submission or decision. 

That feels less likely here and he’ll be carrying the momentum from a quick win over Alexander Gustafsson in London back in July. 

Oezdemir beat Scotland’s Paul Craig at the same event and this fight makes logical sense for the division. 

They are ranked eight and 10 respectively, so to the victor the spoils of an elevation towards the summit. 

Belal Muhammad vs Sean Brady

Welterweight

Muhammad is one of the most intelligent fighters in the division and few competitors are more adept at identifying where their opponent excels and stopping it. 

The unfortunate eye-poke suffered against Leon Edwards set him back but he hasn’t lost since 2019 and three recent wins over Stephen Thompson, Demian Maia and Vicente Luque are mighty impressive. 

Muhammad is waiting in the wings for a title shot and another win or two should put him right there, especially as most of the top five have already fought each other. 

He is not the flashiest in terms of style and is perfectly happy to grind out decision wins. 

Brady, meanwhile, has a huge opportunity on his hands. He’s a powerful wrestler with a simplistic striking game but remains undefeated and impressively overcame Michael Chiesa in his last encounter.   

Brady would no doubt leapfrog Muhammad from his current eighth place in the rankings, with the favourite above him in fifth.  

Beneil Dariush vs Mateusz Gamrot

Lightweight

Dariush is the forgotten man in the lightweight division but will be hard to deny if he beats surging No 9-ranked Gamrot. 

He’s on a seven-fight winning streak and even though the most high profile of those was against Tony Ferguson, he’d be well worth a crack at the winner of Makhachev vs Oliveira.    

Dariush is a fun, unpredictable fighter to watch and has an extremely good ground game. The stand-up muay-thai striking has come a long way too and he’s more than capable of knockouts. 

Gamrot meanwhile has won four successive fights and mixes his wrestling superbly. His conditioning is superb but that may not matter as much over three rounds. 

Both fighters are in their prime and this one should be a barnburner to tee up the other 155-pound contest at the top of the card.  

Petr Yan vs Sean O’Malley

Bantamweight 

This is one of the most fascinating bouts on the card. Yan boasts some of the best boxing in the UFC and will be fully motivated after losing his belt to Aljamain Sterling. 

The Russian meets a man the UFC are pushing as the next big star but this will be the acid test for O’Malley. 

He has the personality and look to be a genuine pay-per-view draw, a rarity at bantamweight, but Yan is far superior to the opponents he’s faced before. 

‘Suga Sean’ will hope that his massive reach advantage can pay dividends, particularly with the fight only going over three rounds. 

Yan starts notoriously slowly and is accustomed to fiver-rounders. If he finds himself one down with two to play, the young American will fancy his chances. 

That said, Yan has promised to ‘Mike Tyson’ this one, meaning close the distance in a bid to land thunderous shots inside. 

The winner will be right in the frame for a title shot to face whoever comes out on top in the fight after theirs.  

Aljamain Sterling vs TJ Dillashaw 

Bantamweight 

Dillashaw is still persona non grata among many fans following his failed drugs test, grovelling apology and two-year ban. 

He’ll find fewer boos in the Abu Dhabi crowd than perhaps he would have back in the United States. 

Earlier this year he bounced back with a narrow win over Corey Sandhagen and now has the chance to wrap gold around his waist once more. 

Dana White credited him for handling his suspension and guilt like a man and in time the narrative will move on. 

For now though, it will still be a bad look for the champion to be a former PED user. He has every chance of beating Sterling, although the performance the champion delivered against Yan was sensational at the start of the year. 

Dillashaw has a kind of raw aggression and will to win perhaps not in the locker of his rival and he’s been talking a solid game too. 

‘To me, he’s already building up excuses,’ he said. ‘He knows he’s got this fight in front of him. He knows he’s got me that’s going to be standing right in front of him that’s going to rip his f***ing head off, and he’s creating an excuse to why he’s going to lose already.

‘But it’s hard to like the guy. And he probably isn’t that bad of a guy, he’s just trying too hard. He might be, I don’t know, a bit insecure. He should be because he’s fighting me and I’m going to f***ing run through him, so he’s going to be a little insecure with that. 

‘He’s going to be on top for just this one fight. The way he got the belt was pathetic. Yeah, he defended it, but that’s going to be his only real win on top.’