Unlucky Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight Alex Perez has had more matches canceled than competed in his UFC tenure.
In November 2020, Perez (24-6) became the first fighter off Dana White's Contender Series to earn a title shot, facing Deiveson Figueiredo atop UFC 255. Perez fell short by first-round submission, and due to a series of unfortunate events, he has not competed since that night. Perez has been booked against Matt Schnell and Askar Askarov numerous times, only for the fights to fall through repeatedly. His latest tilt against Askarov, once scheduled for July 16, is now off, according to Ag.Fight on Wednesday night.
The promotion has adjusted accordingly, bumping Perez to UFC 277 in Dallas on July 30. Instead of Askarov, Perez will square off against Alexandre Pantoja (24-3) in a de facto title eliminator as well as a replacement option should the interim title tilt of Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara France go awry. Perez has confirmed this new 125-pound booking coming two weeks later on his Instagram page on Thursday.
Perez is still looking to bounce back from that loss to Figueiredo in 2020, as six different pairings have been scuttled for various reasons from both Perez and his opponents since 2021. Whether due to injury, fighters missing weight or other undisclosed instances, Perez will be settling on his third opponent in this round robin of fight booking changes. The aforementioned defeat to Figueiredo snapped a three-fight win streak, that saw him beat Mark De La Rosa on the scorecards, put Jordan Espinosa to sleep with an arm-triangle choke and stop Jussier Formiga with leg kicks.
“The Cannibal” Pantoja rides into this battle with two wins under his belt in 2021, coming over Manel Kape and Brandon Royval. For the latter, he tapped Royval with a rear-naked choke, thereby becoming the first fighter to submit “Raw Dawg” as a pro. Since joining the promotion after Season 24 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Pantoja has only fallen short three times, all by decision, to Dustin Ortiz, Figueiredo and Askarov. On the upside, he has defeated former champ Brandon Moreno, knocked out Matt Schnell and wiped out former title challenger Wilson Reis in the first round on his way through the flyweight division.
UFC 277 goes down at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on July 30, and a massive rematch between champ Julianna Pena and challenger Amanda Nunes in the bantamweight division caps off the evening. The co-headliner sees Moreno take on Kara France for the interim strap at 125 pounds. Other fights likely featured on the main card include a title eliminator at light heavyweight between Magomed Ankalaev and Anthony Smith, a heavyweight clash between Derrick Lewis and Sergei Pavlovich, and likely the Perez-Pantoja matchup.
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