NEWYORK — Israel Adesanya will be looking to defend his sixth UFC middleweight title on Saturday, when he meets a familiar opponent in Alex Pereira at UFC 281 inside Madison Square Garden.
Adesanya (23-1) has won three times as many MMA fights as Pereira (6-1) has ever competed, but the UFC hastened this bout due to their history. Pereira has two wins against Adesanya in professional kickboxing, including a knockout in 2017.
It’s a great story for Adesanya’s latest title defense, and a highly technical fight should be ruled out. Pereira finished off two of his three UFC opponents with a knockout.
In the co-main event, the two-time straw champion carla esparza (19-6) is a much weaker team against the former champion Zhang Weili (March 22), although Esparza has thrived in the underdog role before. Also, a light fan favorite Dustin Poirier (28-7) and Michael Chandler (23-7) off square and symbol Frankie Edgar did the last Octagon walk of his career when he was facing Chris Gutierrez.
Watch as Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim summarize the action or watch matches live on ESPN+ PPV.
Fighting
Bantamweight: Julio Arce (18-5, 5-3 UFC, +175) vs. Montel Jackson (11-2, 5-2 UFC, -210)
UFC 281 Result
Light weight: Carlos Ulberg (8-1, 3-1 UFC) against. Nicolae Negumereanu (13-2, 4-2 UFC) by TKO (Watch this game on ESPN+)
In his first MMA appearance in New York, Ulberg put in an absolute performance finishing the first half against Negumereanu. Ulberg immediately penetrated Negumereanu’s leading left foot with calf kicks, before knocking him out with a perfect left hook into the center of the cage. End at 3:44 of the round.
Ulberg is one of four members of New Zealand’s City Kickboxing team competing tonight, and he’s certainly got them off to a hot start. It was a perfect performance, as Negumereanu was credited with only two hits on target, both of which had no effect on Ulberg.
The 31-year-old has improved to 3-0 in his last three fights and 3-1 overall in the UFC since leaving the Contenders Series in 2020.
Still to come:
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Middleweight Championship: Israel Adesanya (c) (23-1, 12-1 UFC, -220) vs. Alex Pereira (6-1, 3-0 UFC, +180)
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Straw Championship: carla esparza (c) (20-6, 10-4 UFC, +270) vs Zhang Weili (22-3, 6-2 UFC, -340)
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Light: Dustin Poirier (28-7 1 NC, 20-6 1 NC UFC, -230) vs. Michael Chandler (23-7, 2-2 UFC, +190)
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Chicken grade: Frankie Edgar (23-10-1, 18-10-1 UFC, +190) vs. Chris Gutierrez (18-3-2, 6-1-1 UFC, -230)
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Light: Dan Hooker (21-12, 11-8 UFC, -155) vs. Claudio Puelles (13-2, 5-1 UFC, +130)
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Light: Brad Riddell (10-3, 4-2 UFC, +105) vs. Renato Moicano (16-5-1, 8-5 UFC, -125)
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Light weight: Dominick Reyes (12-3, 6-3 UFC, -220) vs. Ryan Spann (20-7, 6-2 UFC, +180)
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Female fly class: Molly McCann (13-4, 6-3 UFC, +310) vs. Erin Blanchfield (9-1, 3-0 UFC, -400)
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medium: Andre Petroski (8-2, 3-0 UFC, -200) vs. Wellington Thurman (18-5, 3-3 UFC, +170)
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Light: Matt Frevola (9-3-1, 3-3-1 UFC, +125) vs. Ottman Azaitar (13-0, 2-0 UFC, -150)
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weight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz (13-7, 6-7 UFC, -105) vs. Silvana Gomez Juárez (11-4, 1-2 UFC, -115)
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Men’s feather class: Michael Trizano (10-3, 3-3 UFC, +145) vs. SeungWoo Choi (10-5, 3-4 UFC, -170)
(c) = defending champion
