Mohammed Usman and Eduardo Perez were in the spotlight in The Ultimate Fighter 30 episode 11, entitled Time to Come Alive. With the season quickly winding down, all eyes were on Usman, brother of UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman, to see if he’d join his sibling on the big stage.
The heavyweight had made it to the semifinal round, and certainly had the talent.
“I feel like I’m a martial artist now,” Usman says early in the episode, noting that first he was a football player, and then a fighter. Mohammed then gets a visit from his big bro, who joined the UFC by winning a season of The Ultimate Fighter himself.
The brothers get some one-on-one time, and Kamaru gives Mohammed a fair bit of advice, warning him not to be ignorant, but confident that it’s his show.
Eduardo Perez has no such support coming to visit him. He has his family, his mom, and coach Amanda Nunes helping him focus in the gym.
No issues at weigh-ins for the big boys, and after some more behind the scenes stuff, it’s off to the fight.
The Ultimate Fighter 30: Mohammed Usman vs. Eduardo Perez
Usman looks the part of big, hulking, scary heavyweight, and he can throw bombs. Perez is a big guy himself, and stays calm early, cracking Usman’s legs with low kicks. When Usman explodes forward, Perez backs off, but doesn’t panic. Usman gets stuffed on his first takedown attempt. Coach Nunes urges Perez to keep chopping away at Usman’s lead leg. As the round progresses, Perez gets his jab going. Usman is still taking big swings, and turns up the heat in the final minute. After a sloppy clinch/scramble off a level change, Perez eats a shot on the way up.
Round two, Usman stays in Perez’s face. Perez hits the body with a kick, and goes low. But Usman continues to press, firing jabs to the body and shots upstairs. About two minutes in, Usman punches his way in and sets up a takedown; Perez is warned for grabbing the fence, quickly gets to his knees and pops up. Perez appears to have tired, but Usman is slowing as well, and in the back half of the round, it’s Perez walking forward. The leg kicks continue to wear at Usman, but he still has his power.
“Handle your business, Mohammed,” Julianna Pena tells Usman after the second round comes to an end.
Usman fired a massive overhand right in the first 30 seconds of round three. He struggled to put things together, however, launching single strikes, but fanning on the follow-up, if there was one at all. Still, that was more than Perez was doing early; he was on the defensive more than anything. Usman added his own low kick, and jabbed the body some more. Perez showed remarkable ability to absorb Usman’s hardest punches, but Usman took the round. With two judges anyway.
Official Result: Mohammed Usman def. Eduardo Perez by split decision
After the fight, Usman dedicates his performance to his late son. As for what’s next, Juliana Miller vs. Kaytlin Neil is up next week, the final semifinal bout.
