Alex Perez earned the biggest win of his career with a second round stoppage against Matheus Nicolau at UFC Vegas 91.
Heading into the contest, you would have had to go back to 2020 to find the last time Perez had his hand raised inside The Octagon. After Manel Kape withdrew from the bout against Nicolau, Perez jumped at the opportunity to right the wrongs of his last outing against Muhammad Mokaev in March.
The bout started at a frantic pace with both men landing heavy on each other throughout the opening stanza. Midway through the second round, Perez backed Nicolau up against the fence before unleashing a huge right hook that instantly put Nicolau on the mat, with the referee stepping in to call an end to proceedings.
Speaking to Daniel Cormier post fight, Perez revealed how much it meant to him to finally be back in the win column. He said:
“It feels amazing, you know, everybody counting me out. Coming off of three losses for Deiveson, fought Pantoja and a loss to Mokaev. Three weeks, no problem. Any time, any day.”
Although Perez hasn’t been very active in recent years, it is not through a lack of trying. The American had 10 bouts cancelled in the last four year and although it was difficult at times, Perez kept working away and waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
“I tell people all the time, I don't get paid to sit on the couch.
“I get paid to fight. So I'm always at the gym, you know. So I'm at the gym all the time, helping other teammates, helping people out, coaching, do what I have to do. You know, I'm always working and everybody gives me a hard time because all I do is train. And, you know, this is a reason why because I get an extra 50 K right for that knockout.”
Perez has previously admitted that he had considered walking away from the sport when he career wasn’t quite going to plan but is extremely happy that he worked through the tough times to land one of the biggest wins of his career.
“Good, especially because of all the hard work that's been going on through the camps. You know, obviously I had a lot of stuff happen in the last couple of years, you know, but tough, tough times won’t last, tough people do. And that was why I did. I kind of stuck with it, you know?”
Elsewhere on the card, Bogdan Guskov picked up a huge second round win against Ryan Spann in the co-main event. There were also big wins for Karine Silva, Jhonata Diniz and Uros Medic.
Watch Perez's full post fight interview, below:
