In a contest that saw Alejandro Perez sitting back a little too much, Cody Stamann picked up a clear unanimous decision win.
Cody Stamann is one of the brighter prospects at bantamweight, but seems to have gotten lost in the pack after a tough submission loss to Aljamain Sterling. He is 3-1 in the UFC with impressive wins over Tom Duquesnoy and Bryan Caraway. Prior to his promotional debut, Stamann was 14-1 with eight finishes.
Alejandro Perez is a TUF: Latin America winner who has quietly gone 7-1-1 in the UFC. He is currently on a seven-fight unbeaten streak which includes wins over Matthew Lopez and Eddie Wineland. Perez was originally scheduled to fight Song Yadong, but Stamann filled in for Yadong on short notice.
Perez held the center of the octagon early, which Stamann circled on the outside, attempting kicks and looking to close the distance. Stamann was able to land at times, but wasn’t able to make much happen until he caught a Perez kick and dumped him. On the following attack, Stamann clocked Perez with a heavy punch, and suddenly, Perez was on his heels a little more. An elbow to the back of the head by Perez would draw a warning from the ref between rounds.
Round two saw Stamann right back on the attack, swinging hard. Perez ate a couple of counter left hands, the latter of which had him pawing at his nose, which had taken some damage. On the takedown side, Stamann wasn’t able to put much together, but he continued to be the aggressor, dictating the pace. Perez, it seemed, was content to circle out of harm’s way, throwing single strikes rather than combinations.
Round three opened with a big takedown, by Perez, with Stamann narrowly avoided being dumped on his head. He was back up quickly, however. Stamann then controlled with his wrestling and stand-up for much of the remainder of the round. A poorly timed stand-up towards then end led to a final flurry but the pair would head to the scorecards.
Cody Stamann def. Alejandro Perez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
