Saturday marks the fifth time UFC has come to New York Metropolis, with Madison Sq. Backyard internet hosting for the primary time since UFC 268: Usman vs. Covington 2. This time the primary occasion options Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira for the Middleweight Championship, however the different title battle may finish finish stealing the present.
Carla Esparza has actually discovered her footing within the strawweight division following back-to-back losses in 2018. These fights actually represented a crossroads for Esparza, who as a substitute to fading into obscurity fought again to win six straight fights, together with reclaiming the strawweight title for the second time when she beat Rose Namajunas in Might. It set a UFC document for the longest time between championship reigns, and now she’s again to defend the belt simply six months after successful — and it is likely to be the largest check of her profession.
Zhang Weili is coming off her personal intestine examine, with two straight losses to Namajunas making it really feel just a little just like the magic was fading. Then at UFC 275 Zhang made positive the world knew she wasn’t executed, successful with a thunderous spinning backfist and placing herself proper again within the title image.
Zhang is a drive, with a 22-3 document in MMA, together with 11 knockouts and 7 wins by submission. This makes it an enchanting matchup of Zhang’s completely rounded recreation, in opposition to Esparza’s robust wrestling, which she pairs with a brutal floor recreation. The top result’s a battle that nearly feels unfair. Everyone seems to be predicting Zhang to run over Esparza and ruining her return to prominence, however that basically undersells simply how good the champ’s floor recreation is.
It doesn’t matter what occurs, Rose Namajunas is ready to see who comes out on high, and is able to throw her hat again within the ring to regain the title.
Full UFC 281 card and find out how to watch
Date: Saturday, November twelfth
Time: The Early Preliminary Card begins at 6 p.m. ET, with the Preliminary Card set to start out at 8 p.m. ET, adopted by the Essential Card beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
Streaming: ESPN+ has unique streaming rights in america. It requires a pre-existing ESPN+ subscription, adopted by a $75 payment to purchase the primary card. The prelims shall be obtainable free of charge with ESPN+, and the early prelims can be found with UFC Struggle Go.
Essential card (ESPN+)
- Middleweight Championship: Israel Adesanya (c) vs.Alex Pereira
- Girls’s Strawweight Championship: Carla Esparza (c) vs. Zhang Weili
- Light-weight: Dustin Poirier vs.Michael Chandler
- Bantamweight: Frankie Edgar vs. Chris Gutiérrez
- Light-weight: Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles
Preliminary Card (ESPNews / ESPN+)
- Light-weight: Brad Riddell vs. Renato Moicano
- Gentle Heavyweight: Dominick Reyes vs. Ryan Spann
- Girls’s Flyweight: Molly McCann vs. Erin Blanchfield
- Middleweight: Andre Petroski vs. Wellington Turman
Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Struggle Go)
- Light-weight: Matt Frevola vs. Ottman Azaitar
- Girls’s Strawweight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Silvana Gómez Juárez
- Featherweight: Michael Trizano vs. Choi Seung-woo
- Bantamweight: Julio Arce vs. Montel Jackson
- Gentle Heavyweight: Carlos Ulberg vs. Nicolae Negumereanu