Former title challenger Alex Perez rebounded from three straight defeats on April 27 when he faced Matheus Nicolau in the headliner of UFC Vegas 91. The American flyweight dominated, dropped and stopped his Brazilian opponent with a flurry of punches. The official time was 2 minutes and 16 seconds into the second round.
With the victory, No. 8 Alex Perez improved to 25-8 and got back in the win column. The 32-year-old native of Hanford, California took the fight on a short notice, replacing Manel Kape, who withdrew due to an unknown reason. In addition to the win, he earned Performance of the Night award.
No. 5 Matheus Nicolau dropped to 19-4-1. Brazil’s 31-year-old suffered his second straight defeat.
“It feels amazing you know,” Perez said post-win. “Everybody counting me out cause of three losses. I fought Davidson [Figueiredo], fought [Alexandre] Pantoja and I lost to [Muhammad] Mokaev. S*** happened in my last camp, but three weeks no problem anytime, any day.”
“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. I’m at the gym all the time, helping other teammates, helping people out, coaching, doing what I have to do. I’m always working. Everybody gives me a hard time, cuz all I do is train and this is the reason why. Cuz I get an extra 50k right, for that knockout?”
Perez also thanked his coaches and training partners.
Get UFC Vegas 91: Nicolau vs Perez full card results.