A huge night of action in the octagon awaits as Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev go head-to-head at UFC 280 this weekend. 

Taking place in Abu Dhabi, which is good news for UK fight fans due to a favourable start time, the in-form pair clash for the vacant lightweight strap. 

Makhachev, who is currently on a 10-fight win streak, comes into the bout as the marginal favourite, but Oliveira too has been formidable of late, having won his last 11 fights, dating back to 2017. 

Also on the card is an intriguing match-up between Aljamain Sterling and TJ Dillashaw in what will be a fascinating clash of styles. 

Sterling will put the bantamweight title he won with a hard-fought victory over Petr Yan earlier this year on the line, in a bout that was originally scheduled for UFC 279 on September 10.

With the spectacle swiftly approaching, Sportsmail takes you through everything you need to know. 

The clash between Oliveira and Makhachev is scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 22 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

The preliminary card will start at 3pm for those in the UK, with the main card beginning at 7pm. 

The pair are expected to touch gloves at around 10.15pm, though that will of course depend on the results beforehand. 

As stated, there is also plenty of action on the undercard, with Sean O'Malley involved, while Aljamain Sterling and TJ Dillashaw go head-to-head in the chief support. 

UFC 280 will be available to watch on BT Sport Box Office, with their coverage starting at 7pm. 

The event will cost £19.95 to watch, though the preliminary action will be available to watch for free - if you're a subscriber - on BT Sport 3 from 5pm.

Sportsmail will also be covering the fight live, so you can keep up-to-date with us. 

Main card 

• Charles Oliveira vs Islam Makhachev – for vacant UFC Lightweight Championship
• Aljamain Sterling (c) vs TJ Dillashaw – for UFC Bantamweight Championship
• Petr Yan vs Sean O'Malley
• Beneil Dariush vs Mateusz Gamrot
• Katlyn Chookagian vs Manon Fiorot

Preliminary card

• Belal Muhammad vs Sean Brady
• Makhmud Muradov vs Caio Borralho
• Nikita Krylov vs Volkan Oezdemir
• Zubaira Tukhugov vs Lucas Almeida
• Magomed Mustafaev vs Yamato Nishikawa
• Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
• Armen Petrosyan vs AJ Dobson
• Muhammad Mokaev vs Malcolm Gordon
• Lina Lansberg vs Karol Rosa

Oliveira is supremely confident heading into the bout, insisting he won't need more than a round to get the job done. 

'Everyone wanted to see this fight over here, but I came in to ruin their expectations. Be sure, it will not pass the first round,' he said on UFC Embedded.

Oliveira also insisted his performance will surprise those watching on.  

'I'm going to shock the world yet again… Well, opinions are subjective and some people believe that I would be a potential winner, he would be a potential winner,' Oliveira told ESPN. 

'But I'm gonna show that my history, my background, the number of fights I've had, my contenders, these will come to show on that very night. In this sense, I'll shock the world because people will change their opinion about this.' 

One man who doesn't agree with Oliveira is UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov.

'This is what Islam is gonna do with Charles Oliveira: he's gonna ride him, how you ride your horse,' Nurmagomedov said in a recent video published on the xcellentmma Instagram page. 

'Save this video because a lot of people underestimate Islam.

'They think Charles Oliveira has a ground game. He doesn't have a ground game. 

'If you tap eight times in UFC, how can you say you have a ground game? You tapped eight times.'