Alex Perez (24-5 MMA, 6-1 UFC)
Flyweight (125lbs): 4-1 (UFC), Missed weight 1 time
Bantamweight (135lbs): 2-0 (UFC)
Perez is a fighter that prides himself on being ready to fight no matter the weight class, as he has clearly shown with fighting high-caliber guys on short notice, without a training camp. Perez is a wrestler at heart, where weight cutting originated, and most of his career finishes are by submission with six. But because he isn’t necessarily afraid to be taken down, he has let his striking combinations go with devastating results. Alex Perez is clearly a large fighter for the flyweight division and during his professional career before the UFC he missed weight at least 4 times: a flyweight bout in 2012, a bantamweight bout the same year, a flyweight bout in 2015, and a catchweight 130lbs the bout in late 2016.
When Alex Perez was on DW’s Contender Series in 2017, he competed in the flyweight division and was able to secure a first-round submission win over Kevin Gray to earn a UFC contract.
Perez moved up to bantamweight in late 2017 for his UFC debut and secured a second-round submission finish over Carls John de Tomas. This bout was originally a flyweight bout but was moved to bantamweight thanks to Perez’s opponent.
Perez wouldn’t stay at bantamweight long though as he accepted his sophomore bout against Eric Shelton just three weeks before the event the bout was scheduled to take place on at UFC Fight Night Orlando. And Alex ended up missing weight for the fight by a half of a pound coming in at 126.5lbs.
After Alex’s last fight at bantamweight in March of 2019 against Mark De La Rosa he acknowledged that even though he does cut a lot of weight he doesn’t feel like he loses any strength with the cut, saying “Even though I do cut a lot, I do strength and conditioning year-round. It’s never like ‘oh I got a fight coming up.’ Literally, I’ll be back doing strength and conditioning”
In Perez’s next fight he moved back down to the flyweight division and went on the two-fight run beating Jordan Espinosa on the ground with an arm-triangle choke and finishing Jussier Formiga while on the feet with leg kicks. These performance bonus-winning finishes, and taking care of business on the scale would eventually lead him to a title shot against Deiveson Figueiredo for the UFC Flyweight Championship at UFC 255.
