UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden features two big title fights

Nov. 9—Following last week's UFC Vegas 64 card, where Amanda Lemos vaulted herself into serious title contention with a knockout of Marina Rodriguez, the UFC heads to New York and Madison Square Garden armed with a card fit for the Big Apple.

This Saturday, November 12, the stacked UFC 281 card is headlined by two title fights. In the main event, the rivalry between undisputed UFC middleweight champion "The Last Stylebender" Israel Adesanya and Alex "Poatan" Pereira adds another chapter. The two men first met under the Glory Kickboxing banner, where Pereira bested Adesanya in both fights, including a knockout with a devastating left hook in their second meeting.

Since transitioning to mixed martial arts, Adesanya has been dominant with a 12-0 record in the UFC in the middleweight division. Adesanya has 23 middleweight victories throughout the entirety of his MMA career. Currently, Adesanya has lapped the division, using his unique blend of power and speed in his striking to defeat some of the UFC's best, including Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker Paulo Costa and Jared Cannonier most recently at UFC 276 in July.

Recently, Adesanya has been criticized for being a defensive or "boring" champion. On Saturday against Pereira, Adesanya may have to take a defensive approach in order to survive the unprecedented power of Pereira.

Pereira's meteoric rise to a championship opportunity begin just over a year ago at UFC 268 where he made his UFC debut by knocking out Andreas Michailidis with a flying knee. The anticipation of a fight with Adesanya had been building for a while when Pereira knocked out top-five contender Sean Strickland with ease at UFC 276. Pereira has earned five of his six MMA victories by knockout. The knockout of Strickland solidified Pereira as the next challenger to the middleweight throne.

As a third matchup with Pereira looms, Adesanya is undaunted. Adesanya said "this is a different sport, it's MMA." In his post-fight interview at UFC 276, the champion said "I'm gonna leave him frozen like Elsa." For both men, this fight is about legacy. With a win Saturday night, Adesanya can improve his case of becoming the greatest middleweight of all time. On UFC countdown Adesanya said "I might just jab and leg kick him. When I finish him, I'm going to blow the roof off that place."

While Adesanya is extremely confident, Pereira is of the belief that the result Saturday night will be the same as his first two meetings with Adesanya. Pereira said "Adesanya thought I'd never arrive. In Brazil there is a saying, he who is beaten never forgets. I'm certain he hasn't forgotten. I'm coming and his time is up." Will Adesanya's experience allow him to continue his dominance Saturday night? Or will Pereira's arrival spell the end of Adesanya's reign? Find out Saturday night.

In the co-main event, the women's strawweight title is on the line as former Season 20 Ultimate Fighter winner Carla Esparza begins her second title defense versus former strawweight champion Weili Zhang. Esparza earned her title back after upsetting Rose Namajunas at UFC 274. With the win, Esparza joined Namajunas as one of two women to capture the strawweight crown for a second time.

The 35-year-old Esparza will look to use her defense and wrestling in order to retain her title Saturday night. Esparza wrestled collegiately at the NAIA level at Menlo College. Wrestling is a way to dominate your opponent and break their will. In this fight, Esparza will have to deal with a hungry Zhang.

Since becoming strawweight champion in 2019, Zhang has lost two out of her last three fights to Namajunas. Zhang re-entered the title picture with a spinning backfist knock out of legend Joanna Jedrzejczyk in their second meeting at UFC. Under the tutelage of former UFC champion Henry Cejudo, Zhang has improved massively in terms of her strength and wrestling. Coupled with the striking and speed of the former champion, Zhang is poised to regain her status as champion. Her incredible strength was on display last week, when a video surfaced of the former 115-pound queen, double legging 293-pound UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

The No. 1 key to this fight is, can Esparza handle the shrink of Zhang? Esparza relishes the fact that people are doubting her. Esparza said "it makes me smile and laugh that people doubt me." It will certainly be an interesting fight.

Also on the main card, electric lightweights clash as former interim lightweight champion Dustin "Diamond" Poirier meets "Iron" Michael Chandler. Saturday's bout has high stakes attached to as both men try to earn another championship opportunity for themselves. Poirier has fought the best of the best on the way to the top of the lightweight division. Poirier dominated last two fights of the trilogy against Conor McGregor before coming up short at UFC 269 in a title fight with Charles Oliveira. Poirier has shown the ability to be one of the best counter strikers in the sport, earning wins over Dan Hooker, Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje. This will likely come handy against Chandler.

Since debuting at UFC 257 with a knockout of Dan Hooker, Chandler has become one of the most fan friendly fighters in the organization. Chandler lives to put on a show, and has no regard for his own personal health at times. His wars with Gaethje and Oliveira would be examples. After a highlight reel knockout of Tony Ferguson with a front kick at UFC 274, Chandler may change his strategy going into the fight with Poirier, as he told MMA junkie "I may slow down the pace, but don't hold me to that." If the Division I All-American wrestler Chandler uses his wrestling, the former Missouri Tiger may have an advantage. The appetite for this fight ramped up after the two men had an altercation at UFC 276. Both Poirier and Chandler will look to settle their beef Saturday night when the octagon door locks.

Continuing on the main card at bantamweight, UFC Hall of Famer Frankie Edgar will make the walk to the octagon for the final time Saturday night versus surging contender Chris Gutierrez. At 41 years old, Edgar has been a pillar of the sport since making his UFC debut in 2007. Recently the New Jersey native is coming off several losses by knockout including a loss via a vicious flying knee versus Cory Sandhagen. In order to go out on a high note Edgar will have to deal with the underrated striking attack of Gutierrez. Gutierrez uses his striking and calf kicks very effectively. Gutierrez has won three fights in a row including six of his last seven. Edgar must wrestle in order to earn his 24th and final MMA victory. Will "The Answer" answer the bell? On his retirement, Edgar told mmafighting.com "I know I can't fight forever. I could definitely string it on a couple more years probably, but I know I'll never move on to what's the next chapter in my life. I think now I'm being selfish when I'm still trying to chase this, and I've got a family and kids that want to have goals of their own. They want me around and probably want me to speak good and have my wits about me. I know it's probably the best time."

In the main card opener at lightweight, No. 12 ranked Dan Hooker looks to get back on track after losing four of his last five fights. Hooker faces the "Prince of Peru" Claudio Puelles. Hooker returned to lightweight after a brief stint at featherweight. The city kickboxing team leader is still a top fighter. However, Hooker has run into a brutal schedule that included three current or former title holders, Islam Makhachev, Chandler and Poirier. Hooker will look to use his striking to earn a victory Saturday night. The New Zealand native has landed nearly five significant strikes per minute.

At 12-2, Puelles enters Saturday night riding a five-fight win streak. The win streak includes three submission victories by Kneebar submission, including in his most recent win against the carpenter Clay Guida. The 26-year-old continues to improve in his striking with every outing. Puelles presents an intriguing challenge for Hooker as the hangman attempts to climb back into contention.

The lightweight division and city kickboxing continues to be showcased as talented striker Brad Riddell faces Renato Moicano. After breaking into the top 15 with an over Drew Dober at UFC 263, Riddell suffered a pair of devastating losses to Rafael Fiziev and Jalin Turner. Riddell will look to shake the garden and earn a victory over Moicano by knock out to build some positive momentum going forward. Moicano will look to use his jujitsu to earn a victory and find some consistency in his career after going 5-5 in his last 10 fights.

Continuing the showcase of the lightweight division on the prelims, former title challenger Dominick Reyes looks to end his three-fight skid versus the underrated Ryan Spann in a bottle of top 15 lightweights. Continuing on the prelims in the women's flyweight division, the Molly "Meatball" McCann hype train rolls into New York on a three-fight win streak with two consecutive knockouts via spinning elbow. McCann will face an incredibly tough test in 23-year-old grappling specialist Erin Blanchfield. At 9-1 Blanchfield, holds a 3-0 record in the UFC including an impressive victory over Miranda Maverick at UFC 269. Look for Blanchfield to use her grappling to negate the striking of McCann. A win could earn either woman a spot in the top 10. The New Jersey native, Blanchfield will have a home field advantage in New York.

In the middleweight division, the Ultimate Fighter Season 29 contestant, and former University of North Carolina wrestler Andre Petrovski will look to build on his 3-0 start in the UFC versus the prodigy Wellington Turman. At lightweight, team Serra Longo product and New York native Matt the Steamrolla Frevola looks to build off his knockout victory vs Genaro Valdez at UFC 270 in January, Frevola will get the opportunity at a grudge match versus 13-0 Ottman Azaitar. The two men were supposed to meet on fight island in 2020, but Azaitar was cut from the promotion after a health and safety violation. In a fun twist, Frevola, a New York Mets will be walking out to "Norco" by Timmy Trumpets. The song was made popular by New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz.

Fans won't want to miss a second of Saturday's incredible 14-fight card. The action begins with the early prelims at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN Plus and UFC Fight Pass. The main prelims begin at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN News. The main card is available on ESPN Plus PPV at 10 p.m. ET. Calling the action will be the UFC's "A Team" of Jon Anik on the play-by-play, alongside analysts Joe Rogan, and UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier. Megan Olivi will serve as the "sideline reporter." Famed boxing trainer and commentator Teddy Atlas will join the broadcast as a desk analyst for the post-fight show.