Both Title Fights Set; 2 Fighters Heavy

Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view with
UFC
281, which features two titles on the line.

Both championship bouts are now official after middleweight
champion Israel Adesanya and women’s strawweight titleholder Carla
Esparza both made weight alongside their respective challengers,
Alex Pereira and Zhang Weili. The undercard wasn’t nearly as
professional as Ryan Spann missed the light heavyweight limit by .6
pounds and Michael Trizano was 1.6 pounds over the featherweight
limit.

While Adesanya (23-1) has been a dominant champ with his only mixed
martial arts defeat coming at light heavyweight against
then-champion Jan Blachowicz, he was previously knocked out by
Pereira (6-1) in kickboxing. The hard-hitting Brazilian will look
to repeat this feat on Saturday and officially weighed in at 184.6
pounds. Meanwhile, Adesanya weighed 185 pounds on the dot.

Meanwhile, Esparza (19-6) is the underdog in the first title
defense of her second reign as strawweight champion. “Cookie
Monster” won the belt back after a dull fight against Rose
Namajunas, which saw neither fighter want to engage. Challenger and
former champ Weili Zhang (22-3) will make sure there’s more action
as the Chinese fighter always comes forward. Esparza and Weili both
weighed 114.8 pounds.

UFC 281’s main card will air live on ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 p.m.
ET/7 p.m. PT. Prelims begin at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on ESPN+ and UFC
Fight Pass before moving to ESPN+ and ESPNEWS at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m.
PT.

UFC 281 Weigh-in Results:

Israel Adesanya (185) vs. Alex Pereira (184.6)
Carla Esparza (114.8) vs. Zhang Weili (114.8)
Michael Chandler (155.8) vs. Dustin Poirier (156)
Frankie Edgar (135.6) vs. Chris Gutierrez (136)
Dan Hooker (155.8) vs. Claudio Puelles (155.2)
Renato Moicano (155.8) vs. Brad Riddell (155.6)
Dominick Reyes (205.4) vs. Ryan Spann (206.6)*
Erin Blanchfield (125) vs. Molly McCann (125.4)
Andre Petroski (185.8) vs. Wellington Turman (185.2)
Ottman Azaitar (155.6) vs. Matt Frevola (154.8)
Silvana Gomez Juarez (115.6) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (115.6)
Seungwoo Choi (145.6) vs. Michael Trizano (147.6)**
Julio Arce (135.8) vs. Montel Jackson (135.8)
Nicolae Negumereanu (206) vs. Carlos Ulberg (205.2)

*Spann missed weight by .6 pounds.
**Trizano missed weight by 1.6 pounds.