UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira prediction, odds, picks, time: Best bets on the fight card from an MMA expert

Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya are going head-to-head in the main event of UFC 281 from Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Pereiras twice defeated Adeanya, including once by knockout. Adeseanya is a -230 favorite. Women's strawweight champion Carla Esparza defends her belt against former champion Zhang Weili. SportsLine's Mike Marley has studied the card and revealed his best bets.

Adesanya and Pereira have a rivalry. They both turned to professional MMA later in their careers. Adesanyan won the interim title in April 2019. Pereiras won a title eliminator against Sean Strickland at UFC 276 in July. They will renew their rivalry with a UFC title on the line. The winner will fight Adeanya for the undisputed middleweight title.

Dustin Poirier is going to beat Michael Chandler in UFC 281 main card. Poier has two knockout wins over Conor McGregor and one over Justin Gaethje. Chandler has gone 2-2 in four UFC appearances. He knocked out Tony Ferguson in last appearance.

Marley has strong picks for Adesanya vs. Pereira and every other bout on the UFC 281 card. He's backing a fighter who "will dominate in the striking" to emerge with a huge victory.

Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira, Zhang Weili, Carla Esparza, Dustin Poirier, Chris Gutierrez, Dan Hooker, Renato Moicano, Dominick Reyes, Erin Blanchfield, Andre Petroski, Wellington Turman, Matt Frevola, Silvana Gomez Juarez, Sueng Woo Choi, Montel Jackson, Carlos Ulberg and Nicolae Negumereanu are on the UFC 281 fight card.