The UFC is back with its latest pay-per-view and a return to New York, which means the popular “Embedded” fight-week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.
UFC 281 takes place Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
The main event is a middleweight title fight between champion Israel Adesanya (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) and challenger Alex Pereira (6-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC). They have met twice before – but in kickboxing. Pereira has a pair of wins over Adesanya in those bouts.
The co-main event is a women’s strawweight title fight between champ Carla Esparza (19-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and former titleholder Zhang Weili (22-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC). In addition, Michael Chandler (23-7 MMA, 2-2 UFC) takes on Dustin Poirier (28-7 MMA, 20-6 UFC) in a key lightweight bout, and former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (24-10-1 MMA, 18-10-1 UFC) fights in what likely will be his final bout when he meets Chris Gutierrez (18-3-2 MMA, 6-1-1 UFC) at bantamweight.
The second episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:
Champ Israel Adesanya takes in some fine art. Alex Pereira sweats in the fresh air. Michael Chandler eyes redemption at MSG and trains with Kamaru Usman. Champ Carla Esparza embraces the process. Zhang Weili lands in NYC.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
