Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to UFC 281. Landing on the 12th of November, the UFC has brought the world fourteen exuberant and action-packed fights that all lived up to their name according to all MMA fans.
If you thought UFC 280 was an absolute exhilaration, wait until you hear about this bad boy.
Let’s get down to business.
Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler
With both men fighting in their middle thirties, they sure know how to put on a hell of a fight. Both of these combatants have made their mark in the UFC as two of the greatest lightweight fighters in the world. Poirier is at #2 and Chandler is standing at #5.
Yes, I know it is astonishing that the UFC landed these two men as a non-main event, but they proved that this was the fight of the night and that America does it best in the UFC.
This bout was scheduled for three rounds even though they are five-round fighters because it was not an official lightweight championship bout.
Beginning in round one, Chandler came out with every puzzle piece put together. He was guiding his strikes perfectly landing almost every single one and even gaining a takedown, ultimately leaving fans in awe all around the world of this unexpected first round from “Blessed” Chandler. Michael is more of a striker than a wrestler or grappler, so that is where the fight began to go wrong.
The second round was all Poirier touching and beating up Chandler since Michael let off all of his steam in round one attempting to find an early knockout, but Lafayette Louisiana brews no weak and fragile fighters. Poirier possesses one of the most durable and respectable chins having only been dropped twice in his whole UFC career.
Poirier turns up the flame in the third round and looks for a finish on Michael Chandler. Since Poirier is educated well in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu he uses his body and his pristine Judo skills to provide a takedown ultimately leading to his rear-naked choke submission on Michael Chandler ending the fight of the night with three minutes left in the final round.
Carla Esparza vs Weili Zhang
The co-main event of the evening consisted of two former strawweight champions. Both women came out with aspiring dignity and hope of remaining the champ or becoming the new champ.
Zhang was mainly pronounced as the better fighter during this fight by all MMA fans. Zhang is a powerful striking artist as well as having intense jiu-jitsu in order to submit her opponents.
Even though this fight did not have a very long time duration, it was all action-packed in round one with tons of groundwork and judo takedowns by none other than Zhang Weili.
Weili instantly extinguished Esparza’s chances of winning this fight by constantly controlling her and never letting her up off her back; leading to a round two finish at 1:05 left in the round via a rear-naked choke submission. This would grant Weili’s strawweight championship title once again.
Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira
The main event has landed and these two men have already faced each other twice in kickboxing bouts. Surprisingly, Alex has knocked out Israel in one of their kickboxing matches and this is the first time they will be fighting with an accumulation of all mixed martial arts.
This is Pereira’s third bout in the UFC and he is already competing for the middleweight championship belt. Unbelievable to say the least. Alex is known for his intense and heavy left hook which 90% of the time leaves his opponents out cold.
Adesanya entered the first round with pure confidence and tactical striking landing heavy shots on the Brazilian. At the end of the first round, Israel rocked Pereira so hard he started stumbling back but was saved by the bell. Another 10 seconds and the belt would have remained with the Aussy Israel Adesanya.
Rounds one, two, and four all went Izzy’s way, but Alex held round three to his name.
Heading into the fifth round, it was deemed as though Israel would yet again defend his title by unanimous decision, but Pereira had other plans. With two minutes left in the round, Alex rocked Izzy with a mean left hook stumbling him and pressuring him into the fence. Adesanya was in deep trouble. The Brazilian profusely continued to throw brutal strikes landing in Adesanya’s face where Marc Goddard eventually stopped the contest by TKO granting Pereira the Middleweight belt.
This would end Israel’s championship reign and end his three-fight win streak. This was astonishing to the UFC world with another one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world going down.
Congratulations to Weili Zhang and Alex Pereira on their new titles.
The UFC Is Back On December 10th, 2022 In Las Vegas.
The main event consists of the rematch between lightweight heavy-weight champion Jiří Procházka and Glover Teixeira.
