Major shake-ups could be in store as two UFC titles will be up for grabs this weekend, as Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev fight for the vacant lightweight belt in the UFC 280 main event and Aljamain Sterling looks to defend his bantamweight title against former champion TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (ESPN+ PPV at 2 p.m. ET, with prelims on ESPNEWS/ESPN+ at 10 a.m.).
Oliveira (33-8), ESPN's No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter, will go for his fourth consecutive title fight win, despite being stripped of the belt for missing weight before his last bout against Justin Gaethje in May. Makhachev (22-1) will make his first title fight appearance in the Octagon.
Sterling (21-3) enters his bout with Dillashaw after defending his title against Petr Yan at UFC 273 in April. Dillashaw (18-4) earned a split decision victory over Cory Sandhagen in his last fight in July 2021.
Marc Raimondi spoke to Xtreme Couture MMA coach Eric Nicksick and Fight Ready MMA coach Santino DeFranco to get their perspective on the matchups in the main event and co-main event. ESPN's betting experts, Ian Parker and Reed Kuhn, add their insights and analysis for everything from the main and co-main events to other intriguing bets they like on the card.
Editor's note: Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.