Adesanya faces an old foe for toughest test yet

Israel Adesanya’s spotless record as middleweight champion will be put to the test by an old foe, Alex Pereira, in the main event of UFC 281 at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City on the morning of Sunday 13 November 2022.

Adesanya (23-1) is unbeaten as a middleweight in professional MMA and has successfully defended his title five times, most recently claiming a unanimous decision triumph over Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 in July.

However, one man who has tasted victory over ‘The Last Stylebender’ is Pereira – albeit not in MMA. The Brazilian twice got the better of Adesanya in kickboxing matches in 2016 and 2017 – once via decision and once via knockout.

Pereira (6-1) recently joined the UFC and has earned his title shot with three straight wins over Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva and Sean Strickland. Now he is gunning to dethrone Adesanya, but the Nigerian-born star has warned against a hat-trick of victories.

“The one who laughs the last laughs the best,” said the middleweight champ. “When I fought him, I thought I won the first fight. In the second fight, he was honestly on skates, the referee saved his a** because I was about to drop him. The third round he knocks me out in his own country – that’s a beautiful story for him, but I’m still here.”

Another title on the line at UFC 281 is the women’s strawweight championship, with Carla Esparza defending against former belt-holder Zhang Weili.

Esparza (19-6) won the title for the second time in her career with a split decision triumph over Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 in May (for a sixth successive win), while Zhang (22-3) returned to winning form at UFC 275 in June by knocking out Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

“Carla is a respectable rival. Her up and down experience is very inspiring and gives me power to keep going on," said Zhang.

It will be Zhang's second visit to Madison Square Garden, but last time in New York, she was bested by Namajunas (for the second match in succession) in an effort to regain the title. "All the past, all is overture. I won't make the same mistakes this time," she added.

The rest of the main card features Dustin Poirier v Michael Chandler in a potential lightweight thriller; Frankie Edgar takes on Chris Gutierrez in a bantamweight battle; and a lightweight opener will feature Dan Hooker facing Claudio Puelles.

UFC 281 – Main card

- Main event: Middleweight championship: Israel Adesanya v Alex Pereira

- Co-main: Women’s strawweight championship: Carla Esparza v Zhang Weili

- Lightweight: Dustin Poirier v Michael Chandler

- Bantamweight: Frankie Edgar v Chris Gutierrez

- Lightweight: Dan Hooker v Claudio Puelles

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