The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will feature two title fights among five main card events in the UFC 281, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 12 at the Madison Square Garden in New York. The UFC 281 will feature a total of 14 fights including main card, preliminary card and early prelims bouts.
Five fights will take place in the UFC 281 pay-per-view main card event including Middleweight and women's Strawweight championship between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira, and Carla Esparza and Zhang Weili respectively. The UFC 281 main card event will begin from 8:30 am IST on November 13 at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
UFC 281 Schedule
Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira (middleweight title): The UFC Middleweight championship fight will take place between defending champion Israel Adesanya and former Light Heavyweight champion Alex Pereira on November 12 in New York. The pair have faced each other twice in kickboxing fights with Pereira winning both fights in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
New Zealand kickboxer Adesanya has won 23 off 24 fights in his mixed martial arts career with 15 knockouts while Brazilian fighter Pereira has also lost just one of his seven MMA fights, winning five by knockouts and one by decision.
Carla Esparza vs Zhang Weili (women’s strawweight title): The two-time defending champion, American MMA fighter Carla Esparza will take on the likes of Chinese fighter Zhang Weili in the women's strawweight championship on November 12 at the Madison Square Garden.
The inaugural UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion, Esparza defeated Rose Namajunas in their rematch to win her second title. The No.2 ranked contender, Zhang knocked out former strawweight queen Joanna Jędrzejczyk in the second round at UFC 275.
Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler (lightweight): In the men's lightweight main card event at the UFC 281, No.2 ranked Dustin Poirier will take on the likes of No.5 ranked Michael Chandler on next Saturday. Both the American fighters have lost seven bouts in their MMA career, however Poirier has won 28 fights while Chandler have been victorious in 23 matches.
In his last fight, 33-year-old Poirier was defeated by the former lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira in UFC 269 by rear-naked choke submission. On the other hand, 36-year-old Chandler defeated Tony Ferguson through front kick knockout.
Frankie Edgar vs Chris Gutiérrez (bantamweight): The bantamweight fight against Chris Gutierrez will be the 30th and the last MMA fight for the 41-year-old Frankie Edgar. The 31-year-old El Guapo has registered 18 victories, four losses and two draws in his MMA career since 2018 while Edgar has won 24 fights, lost 10 and drew one fight in his 17-year-long career.
Dan Hooker vs Claudio Puelles (lightweight): The first fight of the pay-per-view main card event will take place between New Zealand fighter Dan Hooker and Peruvian mixed martial artist Claudio Puelles. The 32-year-old Hooker has a record of 21 victories and 12 losses in his 13 years of MMA career while the 26-year-old El Nino has won seven fights and lost only one fight in his UFC career since 2016.