A pair of title fights headline a deep card as the UFC makes its annual November trip to New York’s Madison Square Garden for UFC 281 tomorrow night.
New Zealand’s Israel Adesanya (23-1) will defend his middleweight championship against Brazil’s Alex Pereira (6-1) in the evening’s main event, after strawweight champion Carla Esparza (19-6) of Redondo Beach, Calif., defends her belt against former titleholder Zhang Weili (22-3) of China in the evening’s co-feature bout.
Adesanya has been a dominant middleweight champion since winning the title in 2019, successfully defending it on five occasions with a mix of inventive striking and air-tight defense. But he’s got a backstory in facing Pereira.
