NEW YORK—UFC president Dana White didn’t need to understand Portuguese to feel the intensity from Alex Pereira’s corner before the start of the fifth round.
In between the fourth and fifth rounds, Pereira’s corner implored him to seize the moment in his middleweight title bout against Israel Adesanya.
“It was straight out of a movie,” says White, speaking exclusively with Sports Illustrated following the main event. “Pereira’s team was screaming at himself. They were telling him that he was losing the fight, telling him he needed to throw punches in bunches, to go finish. He had five f------ minutes to finish him and become the champion, and that’s what he did.”
Pereira unleashed a fiendish flurry of shots on Adesanya in the fifth round, in large part capitalizing on Adesanya’s limited mobility caused by an array of calf kicks. Patience and footwork were two critical components for Adesanya, who was only three minutes away from retaining the title by decision. But that became a moot point once Pereira caught Adesanya with a vicious right hand, starting the onslaught that crowned him champion.
“For most of the fight, Israel was too fast for him,” White says. “Pereira is much bigger, but you could tell the difference in the speed. Izzy’s always a good counterpuncher. Pereira knew he needed to catch with one big to slow him down, and that’s exactly what he did. He did exactly what his corner told to do.”
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UFC 281 was a success for White. With a sellout of 20,845 and a gross total revenue of $11,562,807, the event is the second-highest-grossing event in the history of Madison Square Garden. That makes UFC first and second on the list of highest-grossing events in the history of MSG.
“We knew that we’d be big in New York, but we just needed to get here,” says White, recalling how the state of New York did not legalize MMA until 2016. “Think about the number of great events all-time at Madison Square Garden. We’re one and two. I’m very proud of that, and it still feels surreal to say it.”
Top to bottom, UFC 281 was an outstanding card. Zhang Weili defeated Carla Esparza in the co-main event to regain the women’s strawweight title, forcing Esparza to tap out in convincing fashion. The night also featured an otherworldly fight between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler. The crowd erupted as the two lightweights traded blows, and the bloody bout finally reached its conclusion in the third round when Poirier locked in a rear naked choke for the submission victory.
“Going into this fight, we knew that was going to be the Fight of the Night, and that’s exactly what happened,” White says. “Poirier and Chandler were incredible. I could have paid them the bonus the day before the fight. That’s how confident we were in this fight, and they delivered.”
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The pay-per-view served as the finale to an eventful week in New York for White. He made a plethora of announcements, including that Jon Jones will fight in 2023 and that the UFC will hold a card in Nigeria (“We’ll send a team out there, and it’s one of those things I’ll get done before I’m done,” he says). White also announced the launch of his newest endeavor, Power Slap, which will start to air on TBS in January.
“We’re going to educate people on the sport and learn about some of these characters,” White says. “The world rankings will be set by that show, and we’re really excited for people to watch.”
There were a number of highlights for the UFC throughout the week, yet none greater than what took place in the main event when Oliveira took the belt from Adesanya. That will inevitably lead to a rematch, and Adesanya is more than deserving of a shot to regain the belt he defended so vigorously.
“Adesanya deserves credit for taking this fight,” White says. “He was winning, but you never know how it’s going to finish. That finish is what makes this sport so great.”
