Two titles changed hands on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, but where does that leave things in the UFC? Our experts break it all down.
What can we take away from a thrilling slate of title fights and marquee matchups at UFC 281? Jeff Wagenheim, Marc Raimondi and Brett Okamoto offer their thoughts from a highlight-packed event in New York.
Why are we surprised?
Alex Pereira had shown us it could be done long before he stepped into the Octagon on Saturday night to challenge Israel Adesanya for the middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 281. When he and Adesanya were both kickboxers, Pereira had fought “The Last Stylebender” twice and defeated him both times, in 2017, handing Adesanya the only knockout loss of his combat sports career. (At least to that point of the career.)
So we all knew the challenger could do it.
And then he did it — for the third time.
And yet it still was shocking for MMA fans, who are not used to seeing Adesanya outmanned, at least not by a fellow 185-pounder. When Pereira hurt the defending champ with a right-hand midway through Round 5, then swarmed Adesanya along the cage to seize the moment and get the finish, the full house at Madison Square Garden momentarily was left silent, perhaps in disbelief, before erupting with deafening acclaim for a new champ.
If the PPV is purchased, all fights from UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira will be available to watch on ESPN+.
• Israel Adesanya (c) vs. Alex Pereira
• Carla Esparza (c) vs. Zhang Weili
• Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler
• Frankie Edgar vs. Chris Gutierrez
• Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles
• Brad Riddell vs. Renato Moicano
• Dominick Reyes vs. Ryan Spann
• Molly McCann vs. Erin Blanchfield
• Andre Petroski vs. Wellington Turman
• Matt Frevola vs. Ottman Azaitar
• Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Silvana Gómez Juárez
• Michael Trizano vs. SeungWoo Choi
• Julio Arce vs. Montel Jackson
• Carlos Ulberg vs. Nicolae Negumereanu
Watch the complete card on ESPN+ PPV
Pereira (7-1), who resumed a long-dormant MMA career just two years ago after being a two-division Glory kickboxing champ, showed off power throughout the fight. When he connected, he made an impact. But early on, Adesanya (23-2) was trading in the pocket, even badly hurting Pereira right before the horn to end Round 1.
As the fight wore on, though, and Adesanya absorbed some heavy leather, he began using his footwork more and more to maintain the safest distance he could. He even mixed in wrestling to seize the advantage in Round 3, which didn’t put Pereira in deep danger but did tire out the challenger.
Adesanya carried much of the action in the final rounds, and as much power as he had to deal with, he appeared to be cruising to a decision win. When the fighters met in the center of the Octagon for the final round, Adesanya was ahead on all three judges’ scorecards, three rounds to one. But that’s why they schedule these championship fights for five rounds.
And when there’s still time on the clock, and a fighter with big power is in the cage, the lights can go out at any moment. Which they did — again. — Wagenheim
Don’t look now, but Dustin Poirier is right back in the UFC lightweight title picture.
