UFC 281 rocks Madison Square Garden in New York City this Saturday, November 12th. The five-fight main card will be available for purchase on BT Sports 2 HD in the UK and ESPN+ in the US. In addition, the prelims will be featured on ESPN+ with the early prelims being featured on fight pass.
Israel Adesanya aims to extend his title defences to six in the main event against long-time foe Alex Pereira in a middleweight showdown for the throne. Pereira is coming off a knockout victory over Sean Strickland in July 2022, pushing him to #4 in the middleweight division and into title contention. Adesanya looks to build off his UFC 276 victory over Jared Cannonier, which pushed him to five consecutive title defences.
The UFC 281 co-main event features a matchup between strawweight champion Carla Esparza and former champion Weili Zhang. Zhang, a former champion at strawweight herself, is coming off a TKO victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk in June for number-one contender status. Esparza is coming off a title win over former two-time champion Rose Namajunas back in May, extending her win streak to an impressive six straight.
Notable Main Card Bouts
The epic main card also hosts a lightweight matchup for the ages. Former title challenger Dustin Poirier faces off against former Bellator standout Michael Chandler. Poirier is coming off a loss to former champion Charles Oliviera 11 months ago after a third-round submission. Always at the top of the heap in lightweight, Poirier is a feather in any fighter’s cap. Chandler looks to add to his cap on Saturday with a win over Poirier he believes he will be propelled into title contention. After a fight of the night loss to Justin Gaethje and a potential knockout of the year over Tony Ferguson, there’s no questioning whether this fight will be entertaining.
Frankie Edgar will make his last walk to the cage this Saturday on his home turf in New York at Madison Square Garden. The former lightweight champion has had a storied career. In his 30th fight for the promotion, he matches up against streaking Chris Guitierrez. Guitierrez is coming off a bonus-worthy TKO finish back in march, extending his streak to three straight.
The full card is available below:
UFC 281 Full Fight Card
Main Card – 3 am BST/10 pm EST – BT Sports 2 HD, ESPN+ (PPV)
- C Israel Adesanya vs #4 Alex Pereira MW
- C Carla Esparza vs #2 Weili Zhang w-SW
- #2 Dustin Poirier vs #5 Michael Chandler LW
- #12 Frankie Edgar vs Chris Guitierrez BW
- #12 Dan Hooker vs Claudio Puelles LW
Preliminary Card – 1 am BST/8 pm EST – BT Sports 2 HD, ESPN+
- Brad Riddell vs Renato Moicano LW
- #7 Dominick Reyes vs #12 Ryan Spann LHW
- #12 Erin Blanchfield vs #15 Molly McCann w-FLW
- Andre Petroski vs Wellington Truman MW
Early Preliminary Card – 11 pm BST/6 pm EST – UFC Fight Pass
- Matt Frevola vs Ottoman Azaitar LW
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Silvana Gomez Juarez w-SW
- Michael Trizano vs Seungwoo Choi FW
- Julio Arce vs Montel Jackson BW
- Carlos Ulberg vs Nicolae Negumereanu LHW
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
