The upcoming UFC 281 event, set to take place on 12th November at the Madison Square Garden is already featuring a mouth-watering fight card featuring two title fights, and on top of that, an adrenaline-rushing lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler has now been officially announced to take place at the event.
Poirier and Chandler- former 155-pound title contenders and two of the best lightweights in the world, have been in conversations for a showdown since last month and the bout will now materialize on the Nov 12 PPV, as confirmed by UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.
It’s official. Dustin Poirier (@DustinPoirier) vs. Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) at MSG in November, per UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell. Three rounds. In addition to agreeing to the fight this week, Chandler has also signed a new multi-fight deal. pic.twitter.com/8YrYkfjoTW
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) September 7, 2022
A former interim UFC lightweight champion and two time title contender, Poirier is coming off of a submission defeat against Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 last December, which followed after ‘The Diamond’ marked two back to back wins over Conor McGregor in the course of 2021.
Chandler, on the other hand, came back from his back to back losses last year with a victory over Tony Ferguson via a brutal head kick KO at UFC 274 back in 7th May. The former three-time Bellator Lightweight Champion is currently 2-2 in the UFC.
UFC 281 will feature two title fights. The main event will see reigning Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya lock horns against his former kickboxing rival Alex Pereira, while the co-main event will feature a Women’s Strawweight title fight between Carla Esparza and Weili Zhang.
The current lineup at UFC 281:
- UFC Middleweight Championship: Israel Adesanya (c) vs. Alex Pereira
- UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship: Carla Esparza (c) vs. Weili Zhang
- Lightweight: Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler
- Lightweight: Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles
- Lightweight: Renato Moicano vs. Brad Riddell
- Lightweight: Ottman Azaitar vs. Matt Frevola
- Women’s Flyweight: Erin Blanchfield vs. Molly McCann
- Women’s Strawweight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Silvana Gomez Juarez
- Light Heavyweight: Dominick Reyes vs. Ryan Spann
- Featherweight: Mike Trizano vs. Seung Woo Choi
- Light Heavyweight: Carlos Ulberg vs. Nicolae Negumereanu
Watch the LIVE coverage of UFC 279 – Chimaev vs Diaz on SONY TEN 1 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) & SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels at 7:30 am IST on 11th September 2022.
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