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Alex Pereira pulled off the shocking upset over reigning champion Israel Adesanya in the main event of UC 281 by scoring the fifth-round TKO, while Dustin Poirier, overcame some adversity to rally and submit Michael Chandler in the third round.

Pereira, who has two victories over Adesanya in professional kickboxing, stunned the champion with a series of punches in the closing seconds of the final round before the referee felt the damage was too severe to continue. This was only Pereira’s sixth professional MMA fight.

PEREIRA DOES THE UNTHINKABLE!! ????
HE KOs ADESANYA AGAIN!! #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/YiNrtkrVFY
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022

Meanwhile, the UFC 281 PPV main card got a wild one when former interim lightweight champion, Dustin Poirier, overcame some adversity to rally and submit Michael Chandler in the third round.

The opening round was intense! Chandler got a quick start, stinging Poirier on a few occasions early in the round. Poirier then responded with some sizable punches of his own, rocking Chandler a couple of times. It was actually one of the best rounds of the year for sure! The second stanza wasn’t as explosive as the first. Chandler came out and snagged an early takedown, and controlled Poirier for the bulk of the round.

THE DIAMOND GETS IT DONE IN AN INSTANT CLASSIC ???? #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/56vHlHqfaI
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022

Chandler tried to go back to his takedown in the third frame, but that was his undoing. Poirier came up with top position, and then worked his way onto the back. From there, Dustin locked up a body triangle, and then went hard for an RNC. Chandler resisted at first, but a small adjustment made by Poirier resulted in Michael tapping out.

Erin Blanchfield beats Molly McCann

Molly McCann entered Madison Square Garden with an ovation that made it seem like she was New York’s child – not Erin Blanchfield.

In a highly-anticipated UFC 281 prelim, Blanchfield (10-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC), despite being from New Jersey, ran right through the boos and McCann (13-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) for a kimura submission win at 3:37 of Round 1.

A takedown in the opening minute marked the beginning of the end for McCann, who showed some guts as she spent the next two-plus minutes fighting out of submission and crucifix attempts by Blanchfield.

23-year-old Erin Blanchfield moved to 10-1 with an absolute mauling of “Meatball” Molly. ???? #UFC281 | Live results: https://t.co/IwlReiajNE pic.twitter.com/JQube408XM
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) November 13, 2022

When McCann would pop out of the submission, Blanchfield would crucifix her. When the crucifix wasn’t there, Blanchfield immediately isolated an arm. Eventually, Blanchfield locked in a kimura – and that was that.

A nonchalant Blanchfield stood up, brushed off her shoulder, and embraced her coaches – finally getting some hometown cheers.

With the win, Blanchfield extends her winning streak to seven since a controversial decision loss to Tracy Cortez in 2019 outside the UFC. Since she signed with the promotion in 2021, Blanchfield has picked up wins over McCann, JJ Aldrich, Miranda Maverick, and Sarah Alpar.

UFC 281 card and results

Alex Pereira def. Israel Adesanya (c) via fifth-round TKO (punches)

Weili Zhang def. Carla Esparza (c) via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)

Dustin Poirier def. Michael Chandler via third-round submission (rear-naked choke)

Chris Gutierrez def. Frankie Edgar via first-round knockout (knee)

Dan Hooker def. Claudio Puelles via second-round knockout (body kick)

Renato Moicano def. Brad Riddell via first-round submission (rear naked choke)

Ryan Spann def. Dominick Reyes via first-round knockout (punch)

Erin Blanchfield def. Molly McCann via first-round submission (kimura)

Andre Petroski def. Wellington Turman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Matt Frevola def. Ottman Azaitar via first-round knockout (punch)

Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Silvana Gomez Juarez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)