Frankie Edgar, Michael Chandler vs. Dustin Poirier and a prelim lineup that includes Dominick Reyes are just the appetizer to UFC 281.
The event, which takes place next Saturday from Madison Square Garden in New York City, is going to be quite the show.
Honestly, the UFC has been really riding itself into this card. And rightfully so.
In the main event, Israel Adesanya defends his title against long-time rival Alex Pereira. We also get to see Carla Esparza put her belt on the line against former champion Zhang Weili.
Adesanya and Pereira have some history. Back in 2016, it was Pereira who scored a decision victory over the UFC middleweight champion in a kickboxing match.
A year later, Pereira finished Adesanya by third round knockout.
Since that time, though, Adesanya has really transformed himself into one of the top fighters in the world. He combines his use of all his skills and will need to do the same against the former Glory middleweight and light heavyweight titleholder.
Esparza will be looking to hold her title against the former two-time division champion. She won the belt for a second time herself back in May with a split decision over Rose Namajunas.
But like I mentioned, that is not all.
We also get Poirier and Chandler in what could be the fight of the year. Edgar makes his retirement bout against Chris Gutierrez in what is going to be an emotional match, and Dan Hooker kicks off the main card vs. Claudio Puelles.
On the prelims, Brad Riddell takes on Renato Moicano in another lightweight classic. Also, Reyes faces Ryan Spann, Moly McCann fights Erin Blanchfield and Andre Petroski squares off with Wellington Turman.
Heck, even the early prelims have the likes of Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Matt Frevola and Julio Arce.
