Picture Credit: Twitter
The Maddison Square Garden in New York witnessed a historic bout between Israel Adesanya and his kickboxing rival Alex Pereira for the middleweight championship at UFC 281. The fight was full of high-octane action, top-quality skill and a massive knockout inflicted by the Poatan to take the belt in a scintillating fashion. Adesanya was on top for most of the fight, dominating his Brazilian rival with a clinical display.
The Stylebender put Pereira in a lot of trouble at the end of the first round but failed to capitalise on that advantage. Soon the 35-year-old challenger found his groove and landed one of his trademark power shots to finish off the Nigerian-New Zealander. This was also Alex Pereira's third straight win over Adesanya across two sports.
Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler also had an incredible bout full of back-and-forth with both men getting badly hurt but still pushing forward. But Poirier still managed to find his edge and submitted Michael Chandler with a rear-naked choke in the second round.
UFC 281 also had another title battle where Weili Zhang became a two-time UFC champion and registered a clinical victory over Carla Esparza. The Magnum was in the driver’s seat throughout the fight landed good shots and also showed off her superior grappling ability. Like Poirier, Zhang also brought out the rear-naked choke and won the belt in the second round.
UFC 281 card and results
Alex Pereira def. Israel Adesanya (c) via fifth-round TKO (punches)
Weili Zhang def. Carla Esparza (c) via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)
Dustin Poirier def. Michael Chandler via third-round submission (rear-naked choke)
Chris Gutierrez def. Frankie Edgar via first-round knockout (knee)
Dan Hooker def. Claudio Puelles via second-round knockout (body kick)
Renato Moicano def. Brad Riddell via first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
Ryan Spann def. Dominick Reyes via first-round knockout (punch)
Erin Blanchfield def. Molly McCann via first-round submission (kimura)
Andre Petroski def. Wellington Turman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Matt Frevola def. Ottman Azaitar via first-round knockout (punch)
Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Silvana Gomez Juarez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Michael Trizano def. Choi Seung-woo via first-round TKO (punches)
Montel Jackson def. Julio Arce via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Carlos Ulberg def. Nicolae Negumereanu via first-round TKO (punches)