The show in Abu Dhabi has started! UFC 280 is one of the most anticipated events of the year, and the evening will culminate in a lightweight bout between Oliveria and Makhachev. In the rest of the article, you can read the course of the first four preliminary fights.
Rosa vs. Lansberg
The evening opened with a fight in the women's bantamweight category. In the first round, Lansberg moved well around Rosa, who tried to threaten Lansberg with powerful low kicks and some boxing combinations.
Lansberg knocked her down once, from which she recovered and took the fight to the wire in the clinch. The referee warned against inactivity, and from a subordinate position, Rosa knocked down Lansberg with a "judo throw" and ended up in the top position in half guard, and that's where they ended the round.
In the second round, Rosa secured an early takedown after only about 15 seconds from the start. They found themselves in the same position again, Rosa was in half guard on Lansberg's left from where she was doing some ground shots.
Landberg defended well Rosa's attempts to move into mount, while Rosa tried to isolate Lansberg's right hand. The third round was opened aggressively by Lansberg, but Rosa grabbed the clinch and hit with knees, and they ended up on the wire again.
They spent most of the first half of the last round there, and often took turns in a dominant position. Rosa also landed some good punches and a few elbows, while Lansberg looked quite tired. They ended the fight on the wire without too much action in the second half of the last round.
Karol Rosa won by majority decision.
Mokaev vs. Gordon
A fight in the flyweight division followed. Gordon opened the first round aggressively, but Mokaev hit him back with a flying knee and several good kicks. Mokaev "quieted" Gordon about a minute after the start of the fight and knocked him down against the wire, followed by grappling changes with Mokaev's guillotine attempt, which Gordon used and got out of position.
Mokaev again finished the upper parter and controlled Gordon well. There were guillotine setups on both sides, but they neutralized each other, and Mokaev finished the round as the top on the ground floor. In the second round we again saw a very high tempo, Mokaev tried a flying knee, and soon they ended up on the ground again.
It looked as if Gordon sat down by himself and Mokaev found himself in a dominant position again. Mokaev did some damage with ground kicks, and at one point he tried D'arce, but Gordon defended without major problems. Gordon managed to turn Mokaev and ended up in the top position, but Mokaev caught a "triangle" which Gordon managed to defend without major problems.
Gordon took Mokaev's back at the end of the round and locked in the RNC, but the bell saved Mokaev! The last round started the same as the previous one. Gordon gave Mokaev top position and then threw Mokaev on his head with a suplex.
He took his back again, but Mokaev got out, but still ended up on the ground floor. They got up for a moment and Mokaev managed to take Gordon down with a rope, but did not do any significant damage on the ground floor. Mokaev managed to take his back, but he slipped and at the same time caught an armbar and Gordon was forced to tap.
Nurmagomedov vs. Omargadzhiev
Only about 40 seconds after the start of the fight, Nurmagomedov tried to take him down, but Omargadzhiev defended and did not seriously threaten the counter. Omargadzhiev managed to knock him down, but Abubakar still ended up on top but found himself in the guillotine.
He was in half guard, so he was not in great danger, but Omargadzhiev managed to bring him into closed guard. The guillotine was released so Nurmagomedov remained in the upper position on the ground, and at the end of the round Omargadzhiev still got up.
At the beginning of the second round, they competed in the standing position, but exactly 40 seconds after the start of the round, Nurmagomedov changes the level and takes his back on the fence. There, Abubakar hit an illegal knee while the opponent's hands were on the floor, but this time the referee did not take away the point.
Omargadzhiev tried a double leg, but Nurmagomedov defended and finished the upper one on the ground. He took Abubakar's back, but Omargadzhiev got out and tried to knock him down, and hit Abubakar well with an upper kick. Nurmagomedov took his back again, but Omargadzhiev attacked the "kneebar" but had no room for it.
In the third round, Omargadzhiev looked very tired and slow, but the shots from both of them looked very bad. In the middle of the round, they end up on the ground floor, but they still got up and Abubakar shook the opponent's knee well.
Omargadzhiev tried to knock it down but to no avail. There wasn't much action in the last minute, and Abubakar Nurmagomedov won by unanimous decision.