UFC 281 Betting: Adesanya vs Pereira Fight Analysis, Odds and Predictions (Saturday, November 12th, 2022)

Israel Adesanya defends his UFC middleweight title against No4 contender Alex Pereira in a five-round clash for the crown on Saturday, November 12, at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. The main card starts at 11:00 PM ET with ESPN+ covering the matches live on television and UFC Fight Pass featuring it on livestream. Adesanya will make his sixth defense of the 185-pound crown against a familiar opponent in Pereira, who beat him twice in kickboxing promotions in the past. On the other hand, the Brazilian looks to make it three in a row against Adesanya and capture the UFC middleweight title at the same time. UFC betting odds are available and updated as fight fans await the conclusion of this eagerly-anticipated encounter.

Israel Adesanya

Adesanya (23-1, 12-1 UFC) has taken the middleweight scene by storm since his UFC debut in February 2018. He defeated the best middleweight fighters in the promotion and has successfully defended the 185-pound title five times. In his last bout, he dominated Jared Cannonier en route to a unanimous decision victory. He now faces a tougher challenge against Pereira, who outpointed him twice in kickboxing. Adesanya has dynamite in his hands as he has won 15 of his fights via knockout. He needs to unleash everything that he learned to outclass what could be his biggest test of his MMA career.

Alex Pereira

Pereira (6-1, 3-0 UFC) has a well-decorated career in kickboxing before trying out mixed martial arts. Two of his 33 wins in the circuit were against Adesanya. He debuted in the MMA scene in October 2015 and he lost his first bout. That did not faze the Brazilian as he bounced back with a knockout win, three months after his setback. He made his debut in UFC in November 2021 and he racked up a technical knockout win. He followed it up with a dominant win over Bruno Silva and a knockout victory over Sean Strickland in one round. Those victories set the stage for part three of the Pereira-Adesanya slugfest which he hoped would go in his favor for the third consecutive time.

Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira Betting Numbers

	Adesanya	Pereira
Record	23-1-0	6-1-0
Last Fight	Win	Win
Country	Nigeria	Brazil
Height	6′ 4″	6′ 4″
Weight	185 lbs.	185 lbs.
Reach	80″	79″
Win by KO/TKO	65%	83%
Submissions	0%	0%
Decisions	35%	17%
Strikes Landed Per Minute	3.93	6.29
Striking Accuracy	49%	60%
Striking Absorbed Per Minute	2.67	3.36
Striking Defense	59%	58%
Takedown Average	0.00	0.00
Takedown Accuracy	0%	0%
Takedown Defense	78%	73%
Submission Average	0.2	0.0

Adesanya vs Pereira Summary

Although the Brazilian has Adesanya’s number, Pereira remains as the underdog in this championship bout due to New Zealander’s past performances inside the octagon. Aside from securing his first UFC title, Pereira looks to become the second fighter to hand Adesanya a loss in 25 matches. As for Adesanya, he has to win against Pereira to prove that he has learned a lot from those losses and resume his dominance in the 185-pound class. The middleweight superstar looks to further cement his legendary status and a win against Pereira will do just that. MMA punters are in favor of the champion but the challenger’s fighting skills and his past against Adesanya can swing the favor if you’re betting on this encounter.