Abubakar Nurmagomedov, Magomed Mustafaev, and Zuba Tukhugov return at UFC 280
UFC 280 is one of the most stacked cards The Ultimate Fighting Championship has ever put on, with two title fights and four top contender bouts going down this month on October 22, 2022.
Headlining the event is a vacant UFC lightweight championship bout between Charles Oliveira (33-8, 11-fight win streak) and Islam Makhachev (22-1, 10-fight win streak), and co-headlining is UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (21-3), who aims to make the second defense of his title against former two-time champion TJ Dillashaw (17-4).
We also have contender bouts showcasing former bantamweight champion Petr Yan (16-3), who faces Sean O’Malley (15-1), a lightweight encounter between no. 6 ranked Beneil Dariush (21-4-1) and no. 9 ranked Mateusz Gamrot (21-1), a women’s flyweight bout between no. 1 ranked Katlyn Chookagian (18-4) and no. 7 ranked Manon Fiorot (9-1), and a welterweight matchup between no. 5 ranked Belal Muhammad (21-3) and no. 8 ranked Sean Brady (15-0).
UFC 281 is absolutely stacked! And the fun match ups don’t end there.
Leading up to those stellar affairs is the return of three other Muslim fighters, including the cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Abubakar Nurmagomedov (16-3-1), who faces Gadzhi Omargadzhiev in the fourth preliminary bout of the evening.
Nurmagomedov has gone just 1-1 thus far into his UFC career; losing his promotional debut in November of 2019, and winning his next bout in March of 2021. Following another year-plus layoff, he finally returns opposing a 13-1 opponent in Omargadzhiev that also lost his UFC debut in his most recent outing.
Then we have the return of Magomed Mustafaev (14-3) in the fifth preliminary bout, a vicious striker that’s 3-2 inside the octagon, most recently losing a split decision to 59-8 kickboxing champion Brad Riddell in February of 2020. His only other promotional defeat came to a surging Kevin Lee back in November of 2016.
Mustafaev, like Abubakar, has taken some long absences from the sport, as you see.
But, he boasts a TKO win over Abubakar, his fight just before signing with the UFC, and his most recent victory comes over 39-8 kickboxing champion, current no. 7 ranked Rafael Fiziev. That win came via first round knockout (spinning wheel kick), and to this day he remains the only man to defeat the 12-1 Fiziev in MMA.
Lastly, we have the return of Zuba Tukhugov (20-5-1) going down in the sixth prelim match up, a featherweight talent that’s gone 5-2-1 thus far inside the octagon since debuting in February of 2014. He most recently won a unanimous decision against a very talented Brazilian prospect in Ricardo Ramos back in October of 2021.
You may notice, not one of these three names has been too active throughout their UFC tenures, due to VISA issues.
That’s just another reason UFC 280 is such a special event, as it goes down live from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
We also have the return of Makhmud Muradov (25-7), a knockout artist that’s gone 3-1 thus far into his UFC career. He most recently lost to Gerald Meerschaert in August of 2021, a fight he was absolutely dominating up until he was submitted in round two. That one goes down in the preliminary co-main event.
UFC 280 is right around the corner; you don’t want to miss this one!
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