Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev got a first glimpse of one another on Tuesday before their headline title bout at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
The lightweight rivals, who top the bill at Etihad Arena on Saturday night in an encounter for the vacant belt, crossed paths in the athlete hotel on Yas Island, as Makhachev checked in for fight week.
Oliveira, the division’s most recent champion, has been training in Abu Dhabi since early last week. The Brazilian, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Monday, rides an 11-fight win streak.
Makhachev, meanwhile, comes into his first title bout on the back of 10 consecutive victories in the UFC.
A video on Tuesday showed Makhachev and team arriving in the capital – they have been training for the past five weeks in Dubai – where they passed Oliveira and his team in the hotel reception.
A number of fighters on the UFC 280 card were at the hotel on Tuesday, with bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling pictured signing the official fight posters. The American, who was dressed in kandura, defends his belt against former champion TJ Dillashaw in the night’s penultimate clash.
The hugely popular Sean O’Malley, who takes on Petr Yan in another high-profile bout, was pictured also on Tuesday sporting a kandura alongside Belal Muhammad. Muhammad, the No 5-ranked contender at welterweight, goes up against the unbeaten No 8-ranked Sean Brady.
Singham Again
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Director: James Cameron
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The five pillars of Islam
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Winner: Al Sail, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
