The UFC has been really pushing Alex Pereira since he made his debut in The Octagon just a year ago. After just three events, the kickboxing champion now finds himself against a familiar opponent atop the UFC 281 card for the division championship. Israel Adesanya took the organization by storm in his own time but has been criticized for not taking tough challengers to his reign. With two athletes with controversial rises to stardom in the UFC, there is a lot riding on the evening’s finale this Saturday inside Madison Square Garden.
Watch UFC 281
- When: Saturday, November 12, 2022
- Early Prelims Start Time: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
- Prelims Start Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
- Main Card Start Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT
- Location: Madison Square Garden – New York City, New York
- UFC Live Stream: ESPN+ / ESPN+ PPV
UFC 281 features two months’ worth of headliners for pay-per-view and UFC Fight Night events behind the main event of Adesanya vs Pereira. In the co-main event, Carla Esparza hopes to make the first successful defense of the women’s strawweight title. A considerable underdog to former champion Zhang Weili, this bout would be worthy of its own PPV price tag. Behind the women in the featured fight on the main card, No.2 lightweight challenger Dustin Poirier is coming off consecutive losses, hoping to keep his spot in line for a title. Fifth-ranked Michael Chandler has other plans of his own, aiming to send Poirier back down the pecking order.
Preliminary card contests of No.7 Dominick Reyes vs No.12 Ryan Spann and No.12 Erin Blanchfield vs No.15 Molly McCann, in the light heavyweight and women’s flyweight divisions respectively, could headline their own events inside the UFC APEX in Las Vegas are just appetizers at UFC 281. That only goes to further highlight the ridiculous depth of quality that will be on display in “The City that Never Sleeps”.
UFC Main Event Preview – Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira
The history between Pereira (6-1-0) and Adesanya (23-1-0) is well documented. Championship-level kickboxers, the two have met in the competition twice before under Glory of Heroes. Pereiratwice defeated “The Last Stylebender” both times, knocking him out once. In 2018, Adesanya made the move to the UFC, becoming champion just two years later in the last UFC event before the COVID-19 pandemic put the world on pause. He’s since defended his title five times, and his only defeat was in a failed attempt to be a two-division champion, losing in five rounds to Jan Blachowicz by unanimous decision. Adesanya said last week that defending his belt isn’t top of mind, only defeating Pereira.
On the other side of The Octagon, Pereira has fought just one top-15 opponent, the currently No.7 contender Sean Strickland. For him to ascend so quickly to this opportunity certainly raises eyebrows. Still, the UFC had to be salivating at this opportunity the second that they signed “Poatan”. It would be a disappointment for fans and the organization itself if something were to happen to Pereira’s momentum or Adesanya’s champion status before the two had the chance to meet. Pereira has finished two of his UFC opponents early by knockout, in the second and first round respectively. Only his second bout against Bruno Silva went the distance, in which Pereira started slow but finished strong, earning the unanimous decision victory.
The betting window favors Adesanya to get the win by decision at +120 odds. If the fight ends early, Pereira has the edge at +275 to win by knockout/disqualification, slightly ahead of the champion at +300.
UFC 281 Fight Card and Odds*
*Odds are opening lines and are subject to change.
Main Card
- (C) Israel Adesanya (-165) vs #4 Alex Pereira (+140) – Middleweight Title
- (C) Carla Esparza (+290) vs #2 Zhang Weili (-350) – Women’s Strawweight Title
- #2 Dustin Poirier (-175) vs #5 Michael Chandler (+150) – Lightweight
- #12 Frankie Edgar (+175) vs Chris Gutierrez (-205) – Bantamweight
- #12 Dan Hooker (-155) vs Claudio Puelles (+135) – Lightweight
Preliminary Card
- Brad Riddell (+105) vs Renato Moicano (-125) – Lightweight
- #7 Dominick Reyes (-215) vs #12 Ryan Spann (+185) – Light Heavyweight
- #12 Erin Blanchfield (-380) vs #15 Molly McCann (+310) – Women’s Flyweight
- Andre Petroski (-205) vs Wellington Turman (+175) – Middleweight
Early Preliminary Card
- Matt Frevola (-145) vs Ottman Azaitar (+125) – Lightweight
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz (-115) vs Silvana Gomez Juarez (-105) – Women’s Strawweight
- Michael Trizano (+135) vs Seungwoo Choi (-155) – Featherweight
- Julio Arce (+175) vs Montel Jackson (-205) – Bantamweight
- Carlos Ulberg (-125) vs Nicolae Negumereanu (+105) – Light Heavyweight
