UFC 281 Embedded part 5: Netflix and sweat

UFC 281 is now just hours away. Tonight, at MSG, we’ll see UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defend versus his kickboxing nemesis Alex Pereira.…

By: Tim Bissell | 7 months ago
UFC 281 Embedded part 5: Netflix and sweat
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

UFC 281 is now just hours away. Tonight, at MSG, we’ll see UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defend versus his kickboxing nemesis Alex Pereira. We’ll also see Carla Esparza defend her strawweight title versus Zhang Weili. And before all that we’ll get a certified banger when Dustin Poirier meets Michael Chandler.

This fight card has stayed intact thanks to everyone making weight (despite a small scare on the part of Pereira). The UFC’s cameras were there behind the scenes to catch what went into getting those competitors to the scales.

In this episode, we see Chandler shedding the last few ounces, while sparring in his hotel room (note Henri Hooft’s t-shirt in that scene). We also see City Kickboxing’s Dan Hooker and Adesanya sweating it out together with their team. As they spar and sit in their portable saunas we see that their choice of TV viewing is long running medical soap Grey’s Anatomy.

After the official weigh-ins we get close-ups of the ceremonial weigh-in staredowns. And boy are they intense. Poirier stares through Chandler’s soul, while the former Bellator champ breaks slightly telling ‘Diamond’ “let’s do it baby!” and flashes a big smile. For Adesanya and Pereira, not a single word is uttered, as both men do their best to mean mug the other.



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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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.

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