The time for talking is over. The Octagon door is ready to be closed with some of the best fighters on the planet ready to battle it out at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.

It doesn’t get much bigger than the vacant lightweight title bout anchoring the event when Charles Oliveira takes on Islam Makhachev. Oliveira previously held the title before missing weight in his last bout against Justin Gaethje.

He went on to defeat Gaethje by first-round submission, continuing an insane run of victories for the Brazilian as he looks to etch his name in the history books.

Makhachev, meanwhile, has steamrolled all of the foes placed against him. The Russian native has won 10 in a row since his lone pro defeat in 2015 with his last four coming by stoppage.

The main event for UFC 280 features a fantastic lightweight title fight between two men who have a process that involves pressure.

An offensive marauder who can Thai march forward behind a high guard, Charles Oliveira offers a plethora of problems on the feet. Aside from an excellent utilization of front teeps, the Brazilian standout also has a long, prodding jab that he likes to use to set up right hands and leg kicks off of.

When feeling in stride, it’s not uncommon to see Oliveira implement some sort of “touch-n-go” theme, as he seems to have a bit of a hardwiring for catching and pitching punches.

The uncrowned lightweight king also keeps a solid left hook on a hair-trigger, either deploying it as a countering check or attaching it to the end of combinations.

Once establishing his range, Oliveira is quick to find creative elbows and destructive uppercuts that often change the complexion of a fight at the drop of a dime.

However, Oliveira, too, is not beyond getting knocked off course, as his shelling style has traditionally opened him up to body damage and power shots that can pierce around the guard.

ighting out of a southpaw stance, Makhachev has shown to be much more than a sambo practitioner since stepping onto the UFC scene.

Fellow southpaw Adriano Martins may have been able to audit Makhachev’s early aggression with a perfectly placed check hook at UFC 192, but the Dagestani fighter has been steadily making improvements to his striking since his lone setback.

Now, it is not uncommon to see Makhachev play at a much safer range when looking to set up his shots and strikes. Whether Makhachev is sniping crosses down the centerline or mixing the targets of his kicking attacks, the 31-year-old does a solid job of constantly changing his level and variating his shot selection.

Makhachev’s patented check right hook is still a key player in regards to countering presence that’s worth watching out for in this fight, but I suspect we see him press more of his clinch striking in this matchup.

Favoring single and double collar-tie variations in the clinch, Makhachev does a good job of utilizing well-placed knees to manipulate defenses and create openings.

That said, when it comes to clinch striking and counters, Makhachev may be in for a surprise or two when he ties up with Oliveira.

Not only can Oliveira turn your grips against you by turning an elbow over the top, but it also gives him a solid sense of operating space to either strike or sneak in quick shots or entries off of level changes given his noted vision issues.

This is probably the reason why Oliveira does some of his best striking when either flowing to or from his favored single-collar-tie positions.

Touch gloves & away we go! 👊 #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/phLoWiTEtv

— UFC (@ufc) October 22, 2022