UFC San Antonio’s main card features a promising flyweight match-up between Alex Perez and Manel Kape, one many fight fans have circled on their calendar.
So how does Perez (24-7), a former title challenger at 125, see the match-up?
“If anything, he has the advantage on the, I’ll say striking, maybe power. He has more knockouts obviously,” Perez told media members during Wednesday’s UFC San Antonio media day. “I think my wrestling’s better than his. I feel like it’s a fun fight for the division, a fun fight for me, for the fans obviously.”
“Some people may not know him, but I’ve known him for a long time, watched him in other organizations, so I’m excited for the challenge,” Perez added.
Kape has struggled to make the flyweight limit in the past, though he’s hit the mark for his last two outings. Perez, having been on both sides of that fence, isn’t concerned either way.
“I’m not too worried about it. I’ve been on both sides, someone’s missed weight on me, I’ve missed weight on people. Sometimes you just can’t control things,” Perez observed. “If he makes weight, great, if he doesn’t, great, we’re going to still have a fight.”
Like Austin Lingo, who also fights on the UFC San Antonio card, Alex Perez has had a hard time staying active in recent years.
“I would love to be more active,” admitted Perez, who has fought just once since a failed title bid in 2020. He cited injuries and COVID among the factors keeping him out of action; no fewer than eight fights have fallen through for Perez in that time, basically half of which were against Matt Schnell.
“A little bit of everything. Life kind of came too, my son was born and stuff like that. So I wanted to take some time off and spend some time with him. So yeah, I’m excited to be back.”
Watch the full UFC San Antonio media day appearance by Alex Perez above.
