UFC 280 LIVE results: Islam Makhachev submits Charles Oliveira to win lightweight title
Follow live reaction as Makhachev claims the vacant lightweight title with a second-round win over former champion Oliveira
Islam Makhachev submitted Charles Oliveira in the UFC 280 main event on Saturday to win the vacant lightweight title, following in the footsteps of his childhood friend Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib retired unbeaten in 2020, vacating the UFC lightweight strap immediately after retaining it in Abu Dhabi. And it was there that Makhachev won the same belt – almost two years later to the day – submitting Khabib’s literal successor Oliveira to become his fellow Russian’s spiritual successor in the Octagon. Last May, Oliveira won the title vacated by Khabib, and the Brazilian went on to retain it in December. One day before his own scheduled defence against Gaethje this May, however, Oliveira was stripped of the belt after missing weight. Oliveira would submit Gaethje anyway to establish himself as No 1 contender and set up a clash with Makhachev.
That highly-anticipated in-ring meeting played out at the Etihad Arena on Saturday, and it was Makhachev, 31, who came out on top, submitting 33-year-old Oliveira with an arm-triangle choke in Round 2 to win the vacant title. In the co-main event, TJ Dillashaw attempted to battle through a dislocated shoulder in his bantamweight title fight with Aljamain Sterling, but the former champion was largely ineffective and ultimately fell to a second-round TKO loss, as Sterling retained the belt. In the evening’s previous fight, rising 135lbs star Sean O’Malley won a controversial decision against former bantamweight champion Petr Yan. Follow live reaction from UFC 280 below.
UFC 280 LIVE
Oliveira vs Makhachev – Round 1
Oliveira comes out with a jumping front kick. He then kicks high to the body. Makhachev with a decent left hook then some wild punches.
Oliveira comes forward with another front kick.
Oliveira misses with a punch and clinches; Makhachev hits the mat with him and ends up on top.
UFC 280 LIVE
Oliveira has won 11 fights in a row; Makhachev has won 10 in a row.
UFC 280 LIVE
Now here comes Oliveira, looking extremely motivated and somewhat emotional as he bids to regain the title of which he was stripped in May.
UFC 280 LIVE
Out comes Makhachev first, with Khabib in tow.
UFC 280 LIVE
The promo that the UFC just showed for this fight... Wow.
Huge-fight feel. Boxing does not make these kinds of bouts anywhere near frequently enough.
UFC 280 LIVE
There’s still time to check out our main-event preview with former UFC title challenger, commentator and analyst Dan Hardy:
Oliveira vs Makhachev: Inside the most intriguing fight of the year at UFC 280
Charles Oliveira vs Islam Makhachev: Dan Hardy breaks down the UFC 280 main event
UFC 280 LIVE
It’s time for the main event: Charles Oliveira vs Islam Makhachev for the vacant UFC lightweight title.
UFC 280 LIVE
Dillashaw: “I probably dislocated my shoulder a good 20 times during this training camp.”
He says he briefed referee Goddard ahead of time, and he apologises to the bantamweight division for holding up the weight-class.
He says he first sustained the injury in April, when talks around this fight began.
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