| UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | November 12, 2022 (2022-11-12) | |||
| Venue | Madison Square Garden | |||
| City | New York City, New York, United States | |||
| Attendance | 20,845[1] | |||
| Total gate | $11,562,807.77[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 12, 2022, at theMadison Square Garden inNew York City, New York, United States.[2]
AUFC Middleweight Championship bout between current championIsrael Adesanya and formerGlory Middleweight andLight Heavyweight ChampionAlex Pereira headlined the event.[3] The pairing previously met twice in kickboxing matchups. The first in April 2016 which Pereira won by unanimous decision. Their second meeting took place atGlory of Heroes 7 in March 2017, which Pereira won by third-round knockout.[4]
AUFC Women's Strawweight Championship bout between current two-time championCarla Esparza and former championZhang Weili took place at the event.[5]
A lightweight bout betweenMatt Frevola and returning veteranOttman Azaitar was rescheduled for this event.[6] The pairing was previously scheduled to meet in January 2021 atUFC 257, but Azaitar was pulled from the bout and had his contract briefly terminated after it was determined that he had violatedCOVID-19 health and safety protocols, as he attempted to help others enter the UFC's designated safety zone during fight week.[7]
At the weigh-ins,Ryan Spann andThe Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated lightweight winnerMichael Trizano missed weight. Spann weighed in at 206.6 pounds, six tenths of a pound over the light heavyweight non-title fight limit. Trizano weighed in at 147.6 pounds, one and six tenths of a pound over the featherweight non-title fight limit. Both bouts proceeded at catchweight with each being fined 20% of their individual purses, which went to their opponents formerUFC Light Heavyweight Championship challengerDominick Reyes andSeung Woo Choi respectively.[8]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Alex Pereira | def. | Israel Adesanya (c) | TKO (punches) | 5 | 2:01 | [a] |
| Women's Strawweight | Zhang Weili | def. | Carla Esparza (c) | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 1:05 | [b] |
| Lightweight | Dustin Poirier | def. | Michael Chandler | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 3 | 2:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Chris Gutiérrez | def. | Frankie Edgar | KO (knee) | 1 | 2:01 | |
| Lightweight | Dan Hooker | def. | Claudio Puelles | TKO (body kick) | 2 | 4:06 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPNews / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Renato Moicano | def. | Brad Riddell | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 3:20 | |
| Catchweight (206.6 lb) | Ryan Spann | def. | Dominick Reyes | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:20 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Erin Blanchfield | def. | Molly McCann | Submission (kimura) | 1 | 3:37 | |
| Middleweight | Andre Petroski | def. | Wellington Turman | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Matt Frevola | def. | Ottman Azaitar | KO (punch) | 1 | 2:30 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Karolina Kowalkiewicz | def. | Silvana Gómez Juárez | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (147.6 lb) | Michael Trizano | def. | Seung Woo Choi | KO (punches) | 1 | 4:51 | |
| Bantamweight | Montel Jackson | def. | Julio Arce | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Carlos Ulberg | def. | Nicolae Negumereanu | KO (punches) | 1 | 3:44 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[10]
With eleven finishes, this event tiesUFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Bisping,UFC 224 andUFC Fight Night: Imavov vs. Borralho formost finishes in a single UFC event. It also ties the record for most first-round finishes in a single UFC event with seven.[1] This event was also given the 2022UFC HonorsEvent of the Year award as voted by the fans.[11]
