UFC 281 Embedded part 4: ‘It’s me versus me’

The march to UFC 281 grinds on. And the competitors are all in New York preparing to throwdown in Madison Square Garden on Saturday…

By: Tim Bissell | 11 months ago
UFC 281 Embedded part 4: ‘It’s me versus me’
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

The march to UFC 281 grinds on. And the competitors are all in New York preparing to throwdown in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. As always, with these big PPVs, the UFC’s cameras are there to capture some of what is going on behind the scenes.

On this episode of Embedded we see Carla Esparza wrestling the Naked Cowboy on the street (really). He claims she punched him in the groin, but the video evidence does not support this.

We are also treated to Molly McCann training at the Renzo Gracie Academy and Dustin Poirier getting some work in at Church Street Boxing. There, Poirier tells the camera his fight is not against Michael Chandler on Saturday, but a more abstract opponent instead. “It’s me versus me,” said the Diamond. Adding that he doesn’t care about the stage ,records, or purse involved — he just really wants the win.

The episode wraps with McCann gifting Israel Adesanya a signed Alexander Iwobi jersey. Iwobi is a Nigerian player for McCann’s beloved Everton F.C. McCann also made sure to reference the motto under Everton’s crest: Only the best is good enough.



Official UFC 281 Fight Poster

LIVE STREAM UFC 281 PPV ON ESPN+ HERE!

BLOCKBUSTER TWO TITLE-FIGHT SHOWDOWN! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to MSG (Madison Square Garden) in NYC, NY, on Sat. NOV. 12, 2022, with a must-see thriller that will see perennial fan favorite, No. 1 ranked Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya (23-1), battle No. 3 division ranked contender, Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira (6-1), for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Meanwhile, in UFC 281’s pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, we get the current and two-time UFC Strawweight Champion, Carla ‘The Cookie Monster’ Esparza (19-6), defending her title opposite Zhang Weili (22-3). These bouts will be preceded by an exciting Lightweight barnburner between Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier and ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler, in a must-see barnburner.

Don’t miss a single second of EPIC face-punching action!

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About the author
Tim Bissell
Tim Bissell

Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. Among Tim's specialties are the intersections between crime and combat sports. Tim has also covered head trauma, concussions and CTE in great detail.

Tim is also BE's lead (only) sumo reporter. He blogs about that sport here and on his own substack, Sumo Stomp!

Email me at tim@bloodyelbow.com. Nice messages will get a response.

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