UFC 281 took place Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, and with 11 finishes in 14 fights, including two title changes, it proved to be among the best cards of the year.
The main event saw Alex Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) earn another combat victory over Israel Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC), but this time with the highest stakes imaginable when he claimed the middleweight title with a fifth-round TKO.
The co-headliner saw Zhang Weili (23-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) begin a second reign as women’s strawweight champion when she submitted Carla Esparza (19-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) with a choke in the second round.
For more on the numbers behind both title fights, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 281.
Event stats
The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for the event totaled $332,500.
Pereira, Weili, Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler earned $50,000 UFC 281 fight-night bonuses.
UFC 281 drew an announced attendance of 20,845 for a live gate of $11,562,807.77.
Betting favorites went 9-5 on the card.
Betting favorites fell to 23-15 in UFC headliners this year.
Total fight time for the 14-bout card was 1:36:58.
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Alex Pereira def. Israel Adesanya
Pereira became the 12th undisputed middleweight champion in UFC history.
Pereira’s eight MMA fights before becoming UFC champion is the second fewest in modern history behind Brock Lesnar’s four.
Pereira’s four-fight UFC winning streak in middleweight competition is the second-longest active streak in the division behind Andre Muniz (five).
Pereira has earned six of his seven career victories by stoppage.
Pereira has earned all six of his career stoppage victories by knockout.
Adesanya suffered the first stoppage loss of his career with a knockout defeat.
Zhang Weili def. Carla Esparza
Weili has earned 19 of her 23 career victories by stoppage.
Esparza suffered her first submission loss since Aug. 12, 2010 – a span of 4,475 days and 22 fights.
Esparza has completed at least one takedown against 14 of her 15 UFC opponents.
Esparza’s 45 takedowns landed in UFC strawweight competition are most in divisional history.
Dustin Poirier def. Michael Chandler
Dustin Poirier (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) improved to 13-3 (with one no contest) since he moved up to the UFC lightweight division in April 2015.
Poirier’s 21 UFC victories are tied with Charles Oliveira for fourth-most in company history behind Jim Miller (24), Andrei Arlovski (23), Donald Cerrone (23) and Demian Maia (22).
Poirier has earned 14 of his 21 UFC victories by stoppage.
Poirier earned his first submission victory since Dec. 15, 2012 – a span of 3,619 days and 22 fights.
Poirier is one of seven fighters in UFC history to be awarded 13 or more fight-night bonuses.
Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has suffered all three of his UFC losses by stoppage.
Chandler suffered the first submission loss of his career.
Chris Gutierrez def. Frankie Edgar
Chris Gutierrez (19-4-1 MMA, 7-1-1 UFC) improved to 5-1-1 in UFC bantamweight competition.
Gutierrez has earned all three of his UFC stoppage victories by knockout.
Gutierrez is the only fighter in UFC history to earn knockouts by knee, spinning backfist and by leg kicks.
Frankie Edgar (24-11-1 MMA, 18-11-1 UFC) retired from MMA competition after his loss.
Edgar’s total fight time of 7:57:10 in UFC competition is the most in company history.
Edgar fell to 1-3 since he dropped to the bantamweight division in August 2020.
Edgar has suffered all five of his career stoppage losses by knockout.
Edgar has suffered all three of his bantamweight losses by knockout.
Dan Hooker def. Claudio Puelles
Dan Hooker (22-12 MMA, 12-8 UFC) improved to 1-1 since he dropped back down to the featherweight division in March 2022.
Hooker has earned 18 of his 22 career victories by stoppage. That includes nine of his 12 UFC wins.
Claudio Puelles (12-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) has suffered both of his UFC losses by knockout.
Renato Moicano def. Brad Riddell
Renato Moicano (17-5-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) improved to 4-1 since he moved up to the UFC lightweight division in March 2020.
Moicano has earned all six of his UFC stoppage victories by submission.
Moicano’s six submission victories by rear-naked choke in UFC competition are third-most tin company history behind Demian Maia (nine) and Kenny Florian (seven).
Brad Riddell’s (10-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) four-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since June 2021.
Riddell has suffered all four of his career losses by stoppage.
Ryan Spann def. Dominick Reyes
Ryan Spann (21-7 MMA, 7-2 UFC) has earned 18 of his 21 career victories by stoppage.
Dominick Reyes (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) has suffered four consecutive losses after starting his career 12-0.
Reyes has suffered all three of his career stoppage losses by knockout.
Erin Blanchfield def. Molly McCann
Erin Blanchfield’s (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) four-fight UFC winning streak at women’s flyweight is tied for the third-longest active streak in the division behind Valentina Shevchenko (nine) and Manon Fiorot (five).
Blanchfield has earned both of her UFC stoppage victories by submission.
Molly McCann (13-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) has suffered both of her UFC losses by submission.
Andre Petroski def. Wellington Turman
Andre Petroski (9-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.
Wellington Turman (18-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) has suffered four of his six career losses by decision.
Matt Frevola def. Ottman Azaitar
Matt Frevola (10-3-1 MMA, 4-3-1 UFC) has earned six of his 10 career victories by stoppage.
Ottman Azaitar (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) had his 13-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Silvana Gomez Juarez
Karolina Kowalkiewicz (14-7 MMA, 7-7 UFC) has six of her seven UFC victories by decision.
Michael Trizano def. Seungwoo Choi
Michael Trizano (10-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) improved to 2-3 since he dropped to the featherweight division in May 2019.
Trizano earned the first stoppage victory of his UFC career.
Seungwoo Choi’ (10-6 MMA, 3-5 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since June 2021.
Choi has suffered four of his six career losses by stoppage.
Montel Jackson def. Julio Arce
Montel Jackson (11-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) has earned four of his six UFC victories by decision.
Jackson has landed at least one knockdown in five consecutive fights, the second-longest active streak among UFC fighters behind Tai Tuivasa (six).
Julio Arce (18-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) fell to 2-2 since he dropped to the UFC bantamweight division in July 2021.
Arce has suffered three of his four UFC losses by decision.
Carlos Ulberg def. Nicolae Negumereanu
Carlos Ulberg’s (6-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) three-fight UFC winning streak at light heavyweight is tied for the second-longest active streak in the division behind Magomed Ankalaev (nine).
Ulberg has earned four of his six career victories by stoppage.
Nicolae Negumereanu (13-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) suffered the first stoppage loss of his career with a knockout defeat.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
