UFC 280 Oliveira vs Makhachev - Prelims Odds, Predictions, Picks

• Sean Brady puts his fifteen fight winning streak on the line in the featured prelim
• Two title fights top a stacked Abu Dhabi pay per view card
• Bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling faces TJ Dillashaw in the co main event

UFC 280 Prelims

Belal Muhammad vs Sean Brady - Welterweight Division

The odds for these bouts are provided by DraftKings Sportsbook. Click on the odds below to head to DraftKings and place a bet.

We top off the UFC 280 prelims with a battle between two elite welterweights putting their winning streaks on the line.

UFC veteran Belal “Remember The Name” Muhammad currently finds himself in the best form of his career and enters this fight riding an impressive seven fight winning streak.

Muhammad’s most recent three wins over Demian Maia, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Vicente Luque all came by way of unanimous decision.

Sean Brady however is on a winning streak of his own, boasting nineteen wins in a row when combining his pro and amatuer records and remains undefeated to this day.

Brady is on a five fight winning streak since joining the UFC and defeated Court McGee, Ismail Naurdiev, Christian Aguilera, Jake Matthews and Micheal Chiesa consecutively.

While Muhammad is elite calibre its hard to deny Sean Brady’s momentum and overall tenacity in trying to win every second of his fights.

Our Picks

Sean Brady to win via unanimous decision (+175)

Sean Brady to win via decision (+150)

Total rouds: Over 2.5 (-280)

Fight to go the distance: Yes (-225)

Makhmud Muradov vs Caio Borralho - Middleweight Division

Makhmud Muradov fought all around the European regional scene before making his UFC debut in 2019 vs Alessio Di Chirico, which he won by unanimous decision.

Muradov would also win his second UFC fight vs Trevor Smith with a devastating overhand right to end the fight in the third round.

“Mach” would then extend his UFC winning streak to three in a row with a third round flying knee victory over Andrew Sanchez at UFC 257: Poirier vs McGregor 2.

He was on a fourteen fight winning streak before suffering his first UFC defeat to Gerald Meerschaert, who submitted him via rear naked choke in the second round of the Ukbek’s most recent fight.

Caio Borralho started off his mixed martial arts journey in Brazil where he stacked up multiple wins before making not one, but two appearances on the Contender Series.

Borralho won both of his contender series fights, the first of which was a unanimous decision win over Aaron Jeffrey, followed by a first round TKO victory over Jesse Murray which earned him a UFC contract.

Borralho would face fellow UFC 280 prelims fighter Omar Omargadzhiev in his debut and handed the Russian the first loss of his career via technical unanimous decision.

Borralho also faced another fighter appearing on this card in his most recent fight, Armen Petrosyan, who he defeated via unanimous decision.

While there is a lot of excitement surrounding Borralho and his recent performances, this will be his toughest test to date and Muradov has made quick work of opponents with similar records in the past.

Our Picks

Makhumud Muradov to win via KO/TKO/DQ in round three (+1700)

Makhumud Muradov to win via KO/TKO/DQ (+330)

Makhumud Muradov to win in round three (+1600)

Exact method of victory: KO/TKO/DQ (+165)

Fight to go the distance: No (-135)

Volkan Oezdemir vs Nikita Krylov - Light Heavyweight Division

Volkan Oezdemir was one of the hottest prospects to join the UFC roster back in 2017 and won three fights in a row, including two first round knockouts over Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa on his way to a title shot vs then Light Heavyweight champion Daniel “DC” Cormier.

Cormier would hand Oezdemir his first UFC loss via second round ground and pound TKO in the title fight, and since then it has been a bit of an uphill struggle for the Swiss knockout artist.

Oezdemir has so far put together a record of six wins alongside five losses in the UFC with his most recent bout ending in a unanimous decision victory over Scottish Light Heavyweight Paul Craig.

UFC veteran Nikita Krylov put on a show for the fans in his most recent fight vs the Swedish former title contender Alexander Gustaffson when he ended the fight via first round knockout.

For the most part however, Krylov’s most recent UFC stint has been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride with three wins and four losses so far this time around.

Both fighters have a bit of momentum on their side due to the fact that they are both coming off wins, however Nikita Krylov seemed to make big improvements in his last performance while Oezdemir seems to be slowing down a little bit in terms of overall improvement.

Krylov will also have the grappling advantage, having secured multiple submission wins throughout his career, and will look to exploit Oezdemir’s submission defence.

Our Picks

Nikita Krylov to win via Submission in round two (+1000)

Nikita Krylov to win via Submission (+240)

Nikita Krylov to win in in round two (+550)

Exact Method of victory: Submission (+215)

Fight to go the distance: No (-250)

Zubaira Tukhugov vs Lucas Almeida - Featherweight Division

While mostly having found success since joining the UFC back in 2014, Zubaira “Warrior” Tukhugov has had his fair share of disappointments too.

After putting together a formidable three fight winning streak over Douglas Silva de Andrade, Ernest Chavez and Philippe Nover, Tukhugov would tase his first defeat at the hands of Renato Moicano via split decision, followed by a split draw in his fight vs Lerone Murphy.

Tukhugov would get back in the win column after winning his next bout vs Kevin Aguilar via first round knockout, before suffering yet another split decision defeat at the hands of Canadian powerhouse “Mean” Hakeem Dawodu.

In Tukhugov’s most recent outing at UFC 267, he secured a unanimous decision win over Brazilian striker Ricardo Ramos.

Tukhugov’s opponent, Lucas Almeida is a fifteen fight veteran of mixed martial arts with an all around entertaining style, who is always in search of a fight finish.

Most of Almeida’s pro mixed martial arts bouts took place in his home country of Brazil under the “Jungle Fight'' banner with most of those fights ending in finishes, whether it be by knockout or submission.

Almeida also took part in an episode of the Contender Series but ultimately lost that fight via unanimous decision.

One win later, Almeida found himself making the walk for his UFC debut vs ultimate fighter veteran Mike Trizano, who he defeated by third round knockout in what was an all out striking war.

Our Picks

Lucas Almeida to win via KO/TKO/DQ in round three (+3000)

Lucas Almeida to win via KO/TKO/DQ (+700)

Lucas Almeida to win in round three (+1800)

Exact method of victory KO/TKO/DQ (+180)

Fight to go the distance: No (+110)

Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs Gadzhi Omargadzhiev - Welterweight Division

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin, Abubakar Nurmagomedov, has so far put together a 1-1 record in the UFC.

He started off with a loss in his debut fight vs David Zawada which he lost via triangle choke in the opening round of the UFC Fight Night Moscow bout.

In his most recent UFC bout at UFC 260, Nurmagomedov defeated Jared Gooden via unanimous decision.

Yet another contender series graduate, undefeated Russian fighter Gadzhi Omargadzhiev brought a twelve fight winning streak into his bout vs Jansey Silva, which he won by first round kneebar submission.

Overall Abubakar has been in there with tougher opposition than his opponent throughout his career and has trained with some of the best sparring partners available in the sport, so that should give him the edge in this fight.

Our Picks

Abubakar Nurmagomedov to win via unanimous decision (+175)

Abubakar Nurmagomedov to win via decision (+140)

Fight to go the distance: Yes (-165)

Armen Petrosyan vs AJ Dobson - Middleweight Division

Armen Petrosyan had a record of four wins alongside one loss before being invited to compete for a UFC contract on the contender series.

He passed the test with flying colours when he defeated Kaloyan Kolev with a vicious head kick followed up by ground strikes in the opening round of his fight on the show.

Petrosyan would also go on to win his UFC debut via split decision vs Gregory Rodrigues before suffering his first loss in the promotion in his most recent fight vs Caio Barralho which he lost by unanimous decision.

AJ Dobson also got a shot at a UFC contract via the contender series, bringing a five fight winning streak into what would be his ticket into the UFC roster.

Dobson defeated Hashem Arkhagha via rear naked choke in round one during his contender series fight but ultimately lost his UFC debut via unanimous decision vs Jacob Malkoun at UFC 271.

Our Picks

Armen Petrosyan to win via unanimous decision (+400)

Armen Petrosyan to win by decision (+350)

Fight to go the distance: Yes (+200)

Muhammad Mokaev vs Malcolm Gordon - Flyweight Division

Muhammad Mokaev has been absolutely unstoppable ever since he made the decision to compete in mixed martial arts back in 2016, and when you combine his amateur and pro MMA records, he has achieved an astounding thirty-one fight winning streak so far, with no end to the streak in sight.

Malcolm “X” Gordon has had a mixed bag of results in the UFC so far, starting off with two first round losses in a row to Amir Albazi by triangle submission, followed by a TKO loss to Sumudaerji.

Recently, Gordon has turned things around with two wins in a row, starting off with a unanimous decision win over Francisco Figueiredo, followed by a first round verbal submission win over Denys Bondar.

Despite Gordon’s recent good run of form, he will surely have his hands full when he finds himself locked in the cage with this young streaking prospect in Muhammad Mokaev.

Our Picks

Muhammad Mokaev to win by submission in round one (+165)

Muhammad Mokaev to win by submission (+110)

Muhammad Mokaev to win in round one (+120)

Exact method of victory: Submission (+100)

Fight to go the distance: No (-280)

Karol Rosa vs Lina Lansberg - Women’s Bantamweight Division

We start off UFC 280 with an exciting women’s bantamweight matchup between two savvy veterans of the division.

Karol Rosa made her MMA debut back in 2012 in her home country of Brazil before being signed by the UFC a few years later in 2019.

Rosa has so far put together a record of four wins alongside a single loss in the world's top MMA promotion, defeating Lara Fritzen, Vanessa Melo, Joselyne Edwards and Bethe Correia along the way.

Lina “Elbow Queen” Lansberg also began her pro mixed martial arts career in 2012 and would eventually face Cris Cyborg in her 2016 UFC debut.

Lansberg has so far earned four wins in the UFC, while suffering five defeats and seems to find herself in yet another unfavourable matchup at the tail end of her highly respectable MMA career.

Our Picks

Karol Rosa to win by unanimous decision (+110)

Karol Rosa to win by decision (-120)

Fight to go the distance: Yes (-250)

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