What to expect from the Top 3 Fights of UFC 281

UFC 281 is expected to surprise UFC fans with great fights live from one of the most high-profile fighting arenas in the United States, Madison Square Garden, New York. The main event will be between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira for the UFC middleweight title.

UFC President Dana White was not present on the press conference day, surprising many fans. There are many speculations on social media that Dana White might not be present at MSG for the event. But Dana's respect for the MSG is solely enough for him to take a front seat on the UFC 281 event. Dana White shared preview videos of every fight on his Twitter account.

UFC's main event is built around the kickboxing careers of both Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. UFC management, social media fans, and every other person that had a little excitement for the UFC 281 knew that Alex Pereira defeated Israel Adesanya in two kickboxing fights. So, this fight will be an excellent opportunity for Adesanya to earn the respect he could not get in his kickboxing days.

Israel Adesanya no doubt has more experience than his opponent in MMA and rising high in confidence after successfully defending his title back-to-back against tough opponents. However, Alex Pereira is nothing less than Israel Adesanya regarding his abilities in MMA. The only thing he lacks is the high-profile fights in UFC and less experience than Adesanya.

Israel Adesanya's retention chances are high because the odds are in his favor. Adesanya has proved time for a time that he is the best in the middleweight division. Hence, something special will be required from Alex Pereira to take the title off his opponent’s waist.

UFC Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza will defend her title against number 2 strawweight fighter Zhang Weili. Both these fighters have almost similar records and experience in MMA. The champ has won 19 fights and lost six, while Zhang Weili has 22 wins in her career and lost only three fights.

People doubt the abilities of the champion to defend her title successfully. She claimed in an interview that it made her laugh when she thought people didn't believe her abilities. She said,

"It is funny, Before, I would say early in my career it would kind of bum me out like 'hey, I'm a good fighter!' But now it just makes me smile and laugh. Like I know that I have a little secret but people [say] this is going to happen or that is going to happen and I'm just like OK but deep down I have my secret like you'll see.

"But I don't need to talk about it. That's been the style of my coach and my team since I've been there. Do your talking in the cage. I don't need to tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to show you."

On the other side, Weili is confident that she will beat her opponent for the title no matter what Carla thinks. She gave an interview with MMAJunkie where she stated,

"No matter if I'm the favorite or the underdog, I prepared for this fight 100 percent, I won't look down at Carla just because I'm the favorite and she's the underdog. I'll do my best Saturday night."

We will know the exact results at the end of the UFC 281 event. But Zhang Weili has more people behind her than her opponent Carla.

The 3rd and probably the most exciting fight of the event is scheduled in the lightweight division, where Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler will face each other. The excitement of this bout is because there are strong expectations that the winner of this match will face Islam Makhachev for the title.

Michael Chandler won his previous fight via knockout against Tony Ferguson, so he is eying a finish in this fight. However, in an interview with MMAJunkie, Michael Chandler claimed that Poirier is not a hard puzzle to solve.

“Dustin Poirier is not a crazy hard puzzle to solve. I don’t say that it’s not a hard fight, but he’s very brilliant with the basics,” Chandler said. “He’s very good at striking. He’s very good in the grappling and grappling defense department.”

On the other side, Dustin Poirier believes he’ll clean up his opponent on UFC 281. Both fighters are exciting, but there will be only one winner. The odds are in favor of Dustin Poirier. So please keep visiting our website for the post-event results and discussions.