NEW YORK – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Saturday’s UFC 281 event, and you can join us for live play-by-play and official results.
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+.
In the main event, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) puts his title on the line against challenger Alex Pereira (6-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who holds two kickboxing wins over him. In the co-feature, women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza (19-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) defends the belt for the first time in her second stint as champ against former titleholder Zhang Weili (22-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC), who is a 4-1 favorite to reclaim the title.
In addition, former Bellator champ Michael Chandler (23-7 MMA, 2-2 UFC) takes on former UFC interim titleholder Dustin Poirier (28-7 MMA, 20-6 UFC) in a key lightweight bout and former 155-pound champ Frankie Edgar (24-10-1 MMA, 18-10-1 UFC) fights for what is expected to be the final time when he meets Chris Gutierrez (18-3-2 MMA, 6-1-1 UFC) at bantamweight.
Follow along with our round-by-round updates and official results beginning at approximately 6 p.m. ET for the early prelims on ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET for the prelims on ESPNews and 10 p.m. ET for the main card on pay-per-view.
To discuss the show, be sure to check out our UFC 281 discussion thread. You can also get behind-the-scenes coverage and other event notes from on-site reporters Mike Bohn (@MikeBohn), Nolan King (@mma_kings) and Ken Hathaway (@kenshathaway) on Twitter.
Enjoy the fights, everyone.