How to watch ‘UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira’ date, time, and streaming

Here’s how to watch UFC 281.

Nov 10, 2022, 3:00 PM UTC

Photo by Alejandro Salazar/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.

UFC returns to Madison Square Garden for the fifth time in history on Saturday for UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira. With two titles on the line, and a loaded main card it might not boast any mainstream eye-popping names for casual fans, but it’s a treat for fight fans.

The main event fight between Israel Adesanya (c) and Alex Pereira is one of the most fascinating in recent memory. This is Adesanya’s seventh time defending the UFC Middleweight title, since he unified the belt against Robert Whittaker in Australia in 2019.

Adesanya’s range, reach and striking is unparalleled in the weight class, putting on clinic after clinic with his kickboxing — but the downside to this is that while Adesanya is a point machine, he doesn’t really finish fights. His last four have all ended in decision, and fans are growing tired of effective, efficient fighting without much flash.

Enter Alex Pereira, who might bring the x-factor needed to make this fight pop. An exciting, versatile fighter — Pereira has been awarded performance of the night in two of his three UFC fights, finishing with a first round knockout and flying knee respectively. Another wrinkle is his kickboxing background, which shares a lot of DNA with Adesanya. The duo have met twice in GLORY, with Pereira winning both bouts.

If anyone is going to take the belt he might have the best shot, even being a relative newcomer to MMA with only seven professional fights. If anyone can coax some excitement out of Adesanya it’s Pereira.

Full UFC 281 card and how to watch

Date: Saturday, November 12th
Time: The Early Preliminary Card begins at 6 p.m. ET, with the Preliminary Card set to start at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the Main Card starting at 10 p.m. ET.
Streaming: ESPN+ has exclusive streaming rights in the United States. It requires a pre-existing ESPN+ subscription, followed by a $75 fee to buy the main card. The prelims will be available for free with ESPN+, and the early prelims are available with UFC Fight Pass.

Main card (ESPN+)