Unbeaten flyweight prospect and likely future contender Muhammad Mokaev got his next step up in competition on Saturday, taking on Alex Perez at UFC Vegas 87.
Perez happened to be the second ex-title challenger Mokaev had faced of late, having already defeated Tim Elliott.
Mokaev, unbeaten as an amateur as well, came out kicking early on Saturday’s main card. Perez would do the same, slipped about a minute in, but managed to quickly regain his feet. Mokaev appeared to find his distance early, while Perez was hitting air more often than not; when Perez closed the distance, Mokaev reversed, turning the tables.
Just past the midway mark, Perez showed an excellent sprawl, stuffing a Mokaev takedown. No doubt a shot in the arm for Perez in terms of confidence. The takedown would finally come for Muhammad Mokaev late in the round, though it did not come easy. It did, however, allow Mokaev to batter Perez with left hands along the fence from three-quarter mount.
In round two, Alex Perez was able to kick the legs out from under Mokaev in the opening minute. Mokaev scrambled up, but would have to watch out not too take too much damage to the legs. That also seemed to spur Perez to go on the attack, and he went upstairs with a combo; Mokaev went the opposite direction, thinking takedown. He settled for back control while standing, working on a body lock. Mokaev would stay on the attempt, dropping to his knees and eating elbows, but Perez would finally peel him off and get off the fence.
Perez would get a little bit of offence in from there, before it was back to keeping Mokaev off him.
Round three saw another grappling battle along the fence, with Mokaev eventually gaining back control on the feet. Perez throughout the fight had displayed excellent takedown defense, but not when Mokaev opted to just suplex him to his back- holding on to the bodylock, Brock Lesnar-pro wrestling style. The rest of the round consisted of Mokaev hunting the takedown and Perez defending, in what turned out to be a close round, and fight.
On the scorecards, Mokaev would take the unanimous decision win, 29-28 across the board.
Official Result: Muhammad Mokaev def. Alex Perez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
