The latest Ultimate Fight Championship 281 is soon to be held on the 13th of November at Madison Square Garden, in which anticipation for the big event is already sky-high. UFC 281 will see Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira go head-to-head for the middleweight title, Carla Esparza vs Zhang Weili for the women’s strawweight title, and Frankie Edgar vs Chris Gutierrez for the Bantamweight title amongst others.
It’s now the perfect time for UFC fans to begin doing their research and placing their bets for upcoming events. The great news is UFC bets can easily be placed online at 888sports.com where you’ll have all the information you need to get in on the action.
Let’s take a look at what went down at UFC 280, who the main cards were, and what we can expect for UFC 281.
Who walked away victorious at UFC 280?
The lightweight fight of UFC 280 saw Islam Makhachev walk away victorious as he defeated Brazilian mixed martial artist and and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, Charles Oliveira. While former fighter Nurmagomedov brought his career to a close, Makhachev, who was 31 at the time, was rising through the ranks on a six-fight win streak, making him champion of his coach and mentor, Nurmagomedov.
Makhachev came up against Oliveira for the lightweight title and of all the places the fight could have gone down, it was in the iconic location where Nurmagomedov fought for the final time. However, Nurmagomedov was there to encourage Makhachev from the cage side, where great scenes took place as Makhachev defeated his opponent.
(Oliveira v Makhachev Official Fight Highlights)
Dagestan fighters and coaches were roaring in celebration, indicating what a great pride it was for a Dagestan fighter to win the title.
A gripping battle in the co main event
In the co-main event, TJ Dillashaw fought with a dislocated shoulder and lost to Aljamain Sterling. Sterling is an American-Jamaican mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division. He currently stands as the Bantamweight champion. With a record of 22-3-0, exercising his nickname as the Funk Master.
Spectators say the event was robbed of its true fate with Dillashaw dislocating his shoulder early in the first round as the event could have gone quite differently had Sterling not been given the advantage.
At one point, it seemed like Dillashaw may tap out, before he overcame the pain and persisted until the final round where he survived until the very end. In the post-fight interview, Dillashaw revealed that he had dislocated his shoulder an agonizing 20 times or more in the build-up to the fight.
All being said, chatter across social media revealed that spectators were confident that Sterling would have won either way.
O’Malley extends his winning fight record
As of this event, O’Malley extended his fight record to 16 wins and one defeat as he went up against former bantamweight champion and number one ranked athlete in the division, Petr Yan. The Russian professional mixed martial artist formerly fought in the Absolute Championship Berkut where he is a former ACB Bantamweight champion.
While O’Malley is a rising star, many thought that Yan had too much big fight experience for O’Malley to stand a chance, however the American mixed martial artist proved doubters wrong and secured the biggest win of his career in what can only be described as a split-second decision.
Having originally been trained by coach Tim Welch, O’Malley gained the nickname ‘Sugar’ early on in his career. His promotional debut came in December 2017 when he came up against Terrion Ware, who was already experienced in competing in the Bantamweight division of the UFC.
In the post-fight interview, O’Malley commented that he wasn’t sure if he had given enough to win the fight, indicating just how close it actually was. Despite this, O’Malleys performance proved that he belongs in the division of elite fighters.
Who knows what is next on the cards for the 27-year-old fighter, but we could be seeing him as the next ultimate Bantamweight fighting champion.
What can we expect for UFC 280?
It was recently confirmed that Paddy Pimblett and Darren Till will compete in UFC 280, creating a lot of anticipation for the event. Pimblett, who is a 27-year-old mixed martial artist, will fight America’s Jared Gordon, while British fighter Till will face up against South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis on 10 December.
Only time will tell how the events will go down, but now is the time to start placing your bets.
