UFC 281: Predictions on Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira fight

• The UFC 281 exhibition has begun
• Adesanya and Pereira dispute the World Middleweight Belt
• Who is the favourite?

UFC 281. This Saturday, the Madison Square Garden will host the long-awaited UFC 281, a MMA event which will feature major fights of Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira and Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili. Claudio Puelles will represent Peru in one of the preliminaries.

Adesanya and Pereira are big names in this show where Carla Esparza will also defend her 115-pound belt against former champion Zhang Weili, while Dustin Poirier will take on Michael Chandler in a lightweight bout. Frankie Edgar, who rose to fame in 2010 with back-to-back lightweight wins against UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn, has announced his retirement and will fight one last time against Chris Gutierrez.

UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira

Edgar, a native of Toms River, New Jersey, made his debut in 2005 when mixed martial arts cards were still illegal in New York, fighting in the Bronx for the old Underground Combat League. Edgar said he made $160 for that fight and joked that he probably used that money as beer money.

It should be remembered that after the match, Israel Adesanya interrupted a question about the sensation of being knocked out by Alex Pereira inside a cage by making a fundamental clarification: “Ring. Ring.” Mentioned the champion about this Saturday’s fight in New York at UFC 281.

UFC 281: Who will win the title of UFC middleweight champion?

A ghost from Israel Adesanya’s past could appear in the UFC 281 showcase on Saturday night. It should be remembered that the fighter Adesanya defends his UFC middleweight champion title against Alex Pereira, who has already defeated him before.

Adesanya, the UFC 185-pound champion, has never been knocked out by Pereira inside the octagon and the fighter better known as “The Last Stylebender” has only lost once in his MMA career. But it’s two losses to Brazilian knockout artist Pereira in his old kickboxing days that Adesanya just can’t shake, and it has raised the expectation that the middleweight challenger may win again. Filed Under: UFC 281

The third fight

The lopsided history between the two fighters is one reason the UFC fast-tracked Pereira to a title fight after just three fights for the organization since his debut in November 2021. The Nigerian knew this day would come, once Pereira signed, and said it’s time to write the final chapter of their multi-sport trilogy.

Pereira will get his first shot at UFC gold when he fights Adesanya on Saturday night in the UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden. The UFC has largely avoided the Northeast since the pandemic, but returns to MSG for the sixth time since New York in 2016 became the 50th state to legalize MMA. Filed Under: UFC 281

“I’m young, I’m fresh, I’m hungry”

It should be remembered that the Nigerian fighter revealed on Mike Tyson’s Hotboxin podcast how he reacted when his father told him how much money he had earned in his early days as a professional fighter. “Just at Christmas I went home, my dad is the guy behind the scenes helping me grow my money and making my money work for me. He sat me down and told me how much it was worth and my jaw dropped to the ground,” Adesanya said.

“I was like, ‘Really?’ And he said ‘Yes’. I was like, ‘Shit… we could have stopped this a long time ago if it was just about the money,’ but it’s not just about the money for me. I’m young, I’m fresh, I’m hungry and I want to f*ck these motherfuckers… while I can. The money will come, the money will always come. I don’t fight for money.» With information from AP and MMA.ONE. Filed Under: UFC 281