UFC 281 Recap

Logan Antio

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On Saturday, November 12, UFC 281 took place at Madison Square Garden Arena, with the main event being the men's world middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, defending his title against Alex Pereira. The co-main event included the women’s world strawweight champion. This was Carla Esparza defending her title against Weili Zhang. Other fights on the event's main card were lightweights such as Dustin Poirer vs. Michael Chandler, Bantamweights Frankie Edgar vs. Chris Gutierrez, and lightweights Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles.

As for the results of the event main card, defending his title for the sixth time, Israel Adesanya lost due to a TKO in the fifth round at 2:01 out of the 5-minute round after dominating most of the fight, meaning Alex Pereira is the new middleweight champion. In her first title defense, former champion Carla Esparza was defeated by the challenger, and new champion Weili Zhang in the second round at 1:05 due to submission. In the very entertaining, action-packed fight between Dustin Poirer and Michael Chandler, Poirer earned the win by submission in round three at 2:00. Both of these men received an additional $50,000 payout for the event's Fight of The Night bonus. In the fight between Frankie Edgar and Chris Gutierrez, Frankie Edgar was brutally knocked out from a knee to the head in his final bout in the UFC, 2:01 into round one of the fight. Lastly, in the first bout of the main card, Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles, Dan Hooker scored a victory due to a KO/TKO in round two, at 4:06.

EVENT PHOTOS:

Alex Pereira TKO finish against Israel Adesanya (Image: Zuffa LLC)

Weili Zhang rear-naked choke submission against Carla Esparza (Image: Zuffa LLC)

Dustin Poirer's rear-naked choke finish against Michael Chandler (Image: Zuffa LLC)

Chris Gutierrez knee KO against Frankie Edgar (Image: Zuffa LLC)

Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles (Photo: Jessica Alcheh-USA TODAY Sports)