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Posted 2 years ago

MMA General

UFC 280: The good and the bad

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After much anticipation, MMA’s biggest event - the UFC - unfolded in Dubai. With several title fights, and multiple challengers to the individual categories, here are the hits and misses of UFC 280:

Hits:

1) The 22-year-old Muhammad Mokaev continued his unbeaten run at the UFC 280, with victories in all three fights. The British fighter was able to win his first two matches, including his debut against Cody Durden, in less than 15 minutes. In his final match against Malcolm Gordon, he demonstrated his resilience with a late victory.

2) Nikita Krylov and Volkan Oezdemir’s match was an action-packed sequence, as both 205-pound players went head-to-head in the light heavyweight category. While Oezdemir dominated in the initial stage, Krylov attacked with blows soon after. This continued with Krylov ultimately winning the match, in a clash that proved to be among the most thrilling of the day.

3) Belal Muhammad announced his place in the welterweight division with a technical knock-out win over Sean Brady, with 13 seconds left in the match. This also served to silence doubters who had labelled his previous fights against Stephen Thompson and Vicente Luque as ‘one-dimensional’ and ‘boring.’

4)BeneilDariush successfully reminded everyoneof his credentials – a ranking of World No. 3 in the lightweight division – with his fight against crowd favourite Mateusz Gamrot. Dariush had previously raised doubts with his year-long break, induced by leg injury sustained in a fight against Islam Makhachev, but these were led to rest by his impressive performance.

5) While the decision regarding his win was contested, Sean O’Malley has convincingly proved that he is a top contender in the bantamweight division. The match with Petr Yan had some contentious rounds, with both coming close to taking the other out before O’Malley finally emerged victorious.

6) While Nurmagomedov retired in 2020, it is his clear that his legacy is set to continue with the rise of his mentee Islam Makhachev, who defeated Charles Oliveira in the headline match where the Brazilian lost by tapping out. Makhachev is now set to return at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia.

Misses:

1) Several of the opening matches proved to be dampeners, lacking in action. This included the inaugural match between Karol Rosa and Lina Lansberg, as well as the bout between Mokaev and Gordon, though the latter ended on a high. AJ Dobson and Armen Petrosyan’s clash proved to be uneventful as well, followed by Abubakar Nurmagomedov’s fight against GadzhiOmargadzhiev which had more action, but ended on a low.

2) Manon Fiorot’s closely fought match against Katlyn Chookagian demonstrated her position in the flyweight division. However, this still leaves Valentina Shevchenko without a definitive challenger in the next round, where she is set to take on Talia Santos, while Fiorot will take on Alexa Grasso.

3) The bantamweight fight between champion Aljamain Sterling and TJ Dillashaw ended in a disappointing TKO as the previously injured Dillashaw dislocated his shoulder in the first round. He overcame it temporarily before being re-injured in the second round. It has since emerged that the injury had recurred several times prior to the match, which has raised questions about the fighter’s future in the sport.