NEW YORK – Champion Israel Adesanya and challenger Alex Pereira had their first UFC 281 pre-fight faceoff at Wednesday’s news conference.
Ahead of their highly anticipated middleweight title headliner, which takes place at Madison Square Garden and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+, Adesanya (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) and Pereira (6-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) got fight week rolling with a staredown in front of fans and media.
With Pereira already holding two wins over Adesanya from their kickboxing careers, the champion has called this fight “personal.” He’ll try to get revenge on his Brazilian foe and defend UFC gold for a sixth consecutive time.
Both men were intense but showed restraint during the faceoff, which you can watch in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
