Both title fights on the UFC 280 fight card are now official.
The most anticipated fight card of the year is now just a few hours away. During a fight week, the Friday before the fight can be very stressful for the fighters and the fans. All fighters must weigh in the day before in order to be able to compete on fight night. Many times fighters will miss weight and as we saw with UFC 279, sometimes fights can get shuffled around. The UFC was prepared this time for any last-minute hiccups and brought in featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski to be the backup for the lightweight title fight, fortunately, his services will not be needed.
Both Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev of the main event weighed in right under the lightweight limit of 155 pounds. They both were the first ones in line Friday morning and hit the scales right after each other.
IT'S OFFICIAL! Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev have made weight for their #UFC280 lightweight title fight.
The stage is set. The vacant belt will be claimed. pic.twitter.com/x7GCWrvvru
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 21, 2022
There was a bit of worry leading up to this bout that perhaps one fighter would not make weight. Oliveira missed weight his last time out and was subsequently stripped of the title. Volkanovski was warned the night before that he could be needed and that perhaps one-half of the main event was in danger of not making weight.
The Featherweight Champ @alexvolkanovski says his team were still asked 'late last night' if his 155lbs target was still on course 👀#UFC280 | Saturday, 7PM | BT Sport Box Office pic.twitter.com/BKIYQKjOxz
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) October 21, 2022
All the worry was for nothing as both Oliveira and Makhachev made weight. Despite not being needed, Volkanovski had a job to do and made weight as well.
It doesn’t appear his services will be needed, but here’s a look at the lightweight version of Alexander Volkanovski.#UFC280 | Full results: https://t.co/1ozVAVU2JE pic.twitter.com/SRus5g11fQ
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 21, 2022
There is another title fight of this card as well. Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will be taking on former champ TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event of the UFC 280 card. Both men also made their limit of 135 pounds and that fight will proceed as planned.
The bantamweight grudge match between Aljamain Sterling and T.J. Dillashaw is official after both men hit 135 pounds at #UFC280 weigh-ins.
Full story: https://t.co/8Y0J4nnZ26 pic.twitter.com/BVLJuo01h6
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 21, 2022
The people’s main event is a bantamweight fight between former champion Petr Yan and fan-favorite Sean O’Malley. There has been mention that if O’Malley wins he could be next for a title shot at 135 pounds. Both of these men showed up and showed out on the scale as well as in their faceoff.
Petr Yan and Sean O'Malley both made weight for their #UFC280 featured bout, and looked sharp on the scale.
Full story: https://t.co/DqlmJtXAU5 pic.twitter.com/Wl8WwGrJHR
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 21, 2022
Dana White wasn’t going to let Yan and O’Malley get physical again at the final faceoff. #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/m3AKr74NXH
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 21, 2022
Of the twelve fights on the card, there was only one fighter who missed weight. Katlyn Chookagian missed the flyweight mark of 125 pounds for her main card bout against Manon Fiorot.
Katlyn Chookagian misses weight at 127.5lbs ⚖️
She will have an 1 hour and 15 minutes to attempt to make the 126lbs limit. #UFC280 | Saturday, 7PM | BT Sport Box Office pic.twitter.com/AHVg2SuxEQ
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) October 21, 2022
The full weigh-in results for the UFC 280 fight card are as follows (per MMA Junkie)
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 2 p.m. ET)
- Charles Oliveira (154.5) vs. Islam Makhachev (154.5) – for the vacant lightweight title
- Champ Aljamain Sterling (135) vs. T.J. Dillashaw (135) – for the bantamweight title
- Sean O’Malley (135.5) vs. Petr Yan (136)
- Beneil Dariush (156) vs. Mateusz Gamrot (156)
- Katlyn Chookagian (127.5)* vs. Manon Fiorot (125.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews/ESPN+, 10 a.m. ET)
- Sean Brady (171) vs. Belal Muhammad (170)
- Caio Borralho (186) vs. Makhmud Muradov (185.5)
- Nikita Krylov (206) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (206)
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov (170.5) vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev (171)
- AJ Dobson (185) vs. Armen Petrosyan (186)
- Malcolm Gordon (126) vs. Muhammad Mokaev (126)
- Lina Lansberg (135) vs. Karol Rosa (135)
