Mark Jacobs 
Khabib Nurmagomedov protégé Islam Makhachev succeeded his mentor atop the UFC’s lightweight division dethroning champion Charles Oliveira by second round submission Saturday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Headlining a stacked UFC 280 card, Makhachev got the early takedown in the first when Oliveira chose to initiate a clinch.
Oliveira briefly hunted submissions with an open guard but soon went to a closed guard as Makhachev applied heavy top pressure. The champion regained his feet off a scramble but Makhachev put him back on the ground with a judo throw continuing to control the action.
Makhachev got a clinch with double underhooks in the second but couldn’t get Oliveira down again. As the pair separated, the champion began to work his striking. But when he attempted a jumping knee, Makhachev caught him with a hard right hand that dropped him. The challenger instantly went for an arm triangle choke and when he managed to pass his opponent’s guard, Oliveira immediately tapped out.
In the co-main event T.J. Dillashaw came in with a shoulder injury and when the shoulder popped out of place early on, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling took full advantage using takedowns and brutal ground and pound to stop Dillashaw in the second round.
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