In a lightweight title fight in the main event, Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev meet Saturday at UFC 280 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Let’s analyze Tipico Sportsbook‘s lines around the UFC 280: Oliveira vs. Makhachev odds, and make our expert picks and predictions.
The fight can be viewed on ESPNews/ESPN+ with the prelims beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET and the main card at 2 p.m. ET on Pay-Per-View.
Oliveira takes the walk to the octagon as the current strap holder, while also bringing a 3.5-inch reach advantage to the fight. In addition, he has a 3.53-to-2.27 significant strikes landed per minute.
Oliveira – a.k.a. “do Bronx”– picked up the title at UFC 262 with a Round 2 win over Michael Chandler in May 2021. He has defended his title twice, submitting both Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 and Justin Gaethje at UFC 274. Just 1 of his past 18 fights at the UFC level have gone the distance.
Makhachev has positioned himself nicely for this title shot. He dropped Bobby Green via KO/TKO in Round 1 last time out in late February, while submitting Dan Hooker at UFC 267, also in Round 1. He enters on a 10-fight win streak.
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UFC 280: Oliveira vs. Makhachev odds
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 3:22 a.m. ET.
- Fight result (2-way line): Oliveira +155 (bet $100 to win $155) | Makhachev -205 (bet $205 to win $100)
- Over/Under: 2.5 rounds (Over +120 | Under -165)
- Will the fight go the distance? Yes (+260) | No (-410)
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UFC 280: Oliveira vs. Makhachev picks and predictions
Records: Oliveira (33-8-0) | Makhachev (22-1-0)
Fight result (2-way line or moneyline)
BACK OLIVEIRA (+155).
He heads into this bout with a chip on his shoulder, feeling a little disrespect as an underdog despite being the current champ. It isn’t like he’s been struggling or showing any signs of slowing down.
Yes, Makhachev has been impressive, too, but the champ has the much better resume. Plus, there is way more value betting Oliveira, and this is a lot closer to a coin-flip fight than the books are indicating.
Over/Under (O/U)
No (-410): Fight to go the distance is just too expensive to play. A better bet, albeit a little on the expensive side, is to play UNDER 2.5 ROUNDS (-165).
Neither of these fighters like to go very deep into bouts, and Makhachev hasn’t even seen Round 2 in his past 2 fights, while Oliveira hasn’t gone Over 2.5 rounds in 3 straight since his unanimous-decision win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 256.
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