Combat Sports

PREVIEW: UFC 281 – Adesanya vs Pereira

UFC 281 boasts a career-defining main event as the middleweight championship is on the line. Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya faces a nightmare from the past, a fighter whose power knows no limit, Alex Pereira.

by
Joshua Gaillard
November 11, 2022

UFC 281 boasts a career-defining main event as the middleweight championship is on the line. Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya faces a nightmare from the past, a fighter whose power knows no limit, Alex Pereira.

Two women looking excitedly at cellphone

In the co-main event of the evening, UFC stalwart and two-time women’s flyweight champion Carla Esparza seeks her first title defense against former champion Weili Zhang.

Two crowning events are preceded by a veracious people’s main event, when Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier flings leather with “Iron” Michael Chandler in a three-round scheduled battle!

This Pay-Per-View event is stacked from early prelim to the main event, and for the punter, even the favourites hold considerable value.

Saturday 22 July

Main Event – Israel Adesanya 43/100 | Alex Pereira 16/10

For the average watcher, you might see the record of Alex Pereira (7-1) and think to yourself, ‘how on earth is this guy fighting for the belt?’ against the undisputed king of the middleweights, Israel Adesanya. Well, rivalry produces the biggest spectacles across any sport, and this is a rivalry you do not want to miss. A rivalry that began in the kickboxing ring finally crosses over to the Octagon, as Pereira squares off with Adesanya.

The Nigerian-born New Zealander steps into the Octagon undefeated in the middleweight division currently riding a three-fight win streak with unanimous decision victories over Marvin Vettori, Robert Whittaker, and Jared Cannonier. His one and only loss was an attempt to claim a belt in the light heavyweight division against Jan Blachowicz. Since winning the belt, he has achieved six title defenses in a convincing fashion.

The juicy backstory of this matchup is that the last time they fought, Pereira knocked Adesanya out cold. The Brazilian won their initial encounter in April 2016 by unanimous decision, but when they met for a second time 11 months later, Pereira rallied to score a third-round knockout victory – the only time “The Last Stylebender” has been knocked out in his entire combat sports career.

The Brazilian native is a five-time kickboxing World Champion and the moment Pereira stepped into mixed martial arts the crossroads of these foes was inevitable. A rude awakening befell Pereira in his first Octagon matchup being submitted in the third round. Since then, back-to-back round-one knockout victories earned him a UFC contract. The anticipation and lack of competition for Adesanya at the top fast-tracked his rise to a UFC title shot. But take nothing away from his brutal knockouts of Andreas Michailidis with a flying knee, a unanimous decision triumph over Bruno Silva, and a statement round one trademark left hook K.O. of Sean Strickland. Three wins in the UFC are not entirely worthy of a title shot in many fight fans’ opinions, but this fight is so easy to promote.

Verdict: Israel Adesanya 43/100

If Pereira is victorious, it is so easy to put together a rematch and, subsequently a trilogy of this fight, raking in the money for the promotion. The power that Pereira possesses has been magnified using the small eight-ounce gloves of MMA, and if you haven’t seen Adesanya get his lights knocked out by the Brazilian you will numerous times in clips before this fight commences.

All this being said, Adesanya won their first kickboxing matchup in many professional pundits’ opinions, and he has recently made unanimous decision victories his staple mitigating any form of danger with impressive counter striking. Adesanya has dealt with power before and will look to mark a statement victory here. Backing him to do so has value, but like in any fight, there is a puncher’s chance.

Co-main – Carla Esparza 26/10 vs Weili Zhang 24/100

In the co-main event of the evening, one fighter seeks a chance to be named two-time Women’s Strawweight Championship, and a fighter who has already claimed that status seeks to defend her title for the first time. Zhang Weili (22-3) will face current two-time champion Carla Esparza (19-6).

Carla Esparza has been in the UFC for just short of a decade and was named the first-ever Women’s Strawweight Champion. A rear naked choke victory against Rose Namajunas crowned her champion for the first time, but she failed to defend her title losing via T.K.O. loss to Joanna Jędrzejczyk. Fast forward 11 fights and seven years, Esparza would face Namajunas again to reclaim her belt doing so via split decision. Now, she has the opportunity again to defend her title and consummate the union against another high-level opponent.

A fighter who had the promise to dominate the women’s strawweight division, Weili Zhang was running through every opponent. Back-to-back losses against Rose Namajunas were defining moments in the trajectory of what she could possibly become. The caliber of opponent that Weili has completely dismantled must not go unnoticed, and two wins dominant wins over the division’s former champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk has set up the opportunity to regain her belt.

Verdict: Weili Zhang 24/100

There is no debate that Zhang Weili’s path to victory is stuffing any takedowns. Weili is unquestionably the better striker and by far the more powerful fighter. Look for her to cut off the Octagon and press Esparza to the edge of the cage with dangerous body and head kicks, but she might stray away from the useful low kick with a threat of Esparza’s takedown.

In a standing grappling exchange Weili’s elbows and spinning attacks are lethal and have won fights in the past, but where she will win the fight is by defending Esparza’s level changes and bouncing back to her feet with technique and greater strength.

Dustin Poirier 43/100 vs Michael Chandler 33/20

Two crowning events are preceded by a veracious people’s main event when Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier (28-7) flings leather with “Iron” Michael Chandler (23-7) in a three-round scheduled battle!

Dustin Poirier last fought at UFC 269 for the lightweight title in a losing effort against Charles Oliveira. Dustin has never faced back-to-back defeats in his 13 years as a professional fighter and a year on from his last defeat the fighter from Louisiana hopes to get back into the win column. Dustin has proved his ability to weather a barrage of attacks and put pressure on his opponent in a unique and taxing way with amazing back-and-forth performances in which he has proven victorious. Given Poirier has secured a K.O. in five of his last seven wins, “The Diamond” sits in the near-perfect position to find a finish later in the fight after weathering the early storm from a heavy-hitting opponent.

Michael Chandler fights with his foot flat on the accelerator, and with the disposition to “out-tough” an opponent walking hands down on a few occasions. His entertainment value in the UFC is exponential, but on occasions, this has proven detrimental to his success. A round-one knockout is Chandler’s forte, accumulating one in the UFC against Dan Hooker and 13 overall. After back-to-back losses against Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, he magically formulated a brutal round two K.O. of Tony Ferguson.

This extraordinary matchup is bound to be a fight leaving you on your feet, hands on head, and jaw resting on the floor.

Verdict: Dustin Poirier 43/100

A three-round bout favours Michael Chandler’s explosive fighting style, and Dustin Poirier’s grit makes this encounter ten times more intriguing. It is not only grit that will get Poirier through heavy onslaughts, but his counter-striking and polished takedown defence from a former matchup with Khabib Nurmagomedov give him the edge technically across the board.

The question is can Chandler “catch” Dustin? I believe so, but looking back at his fight against Gaethje, when he was caught by a heavy shot, his ability to recover and push on to win proved priceless.