Alex Perez is again, besides in accordance with him, he by no means left.
Saturday night, Perez knocked out Matheus Nicolau in the primary occasion of UFC Vegas 91. It was arguably one of the best efficiency of Perez’s profession, and it got here on the excellent time because the Workforce Oyama fighter had misplaced three in a row heading into the battle. And for Perez, this was simply proof of what he’s been saying all alongside: He by no means fell off.
“It simply exhibits I’m nonetheless right here,” Perez mentioned on the post-fight press convention. “I by no means went wherever. I believe the division sort of did. Clearly coming off all these fights being cancelled and my final three fights not going the way in which I needed them to, however thank God for my crew and my family and friends for pushing me in the appropriate path. I confirmed the division that I’m again in it.”
Perez challenged for the UFC title again in 2020, however was shortly submitted by champion Deiveson Figueiredo. That set off his three-fight dropping skid over the subsequent few years, however even perhaps worse, it began a tremendously unfortunate run for Perez in making it into the cage. After that loss, Perez had 9 separate fights collapse for quite a lot of causes, and naturally when he managed to make it to the cage, he ended up dropping. However whereas most fighters would possibly lose confidence throughout such a making an attempt time, Perez credit his crew for ensuring he by no means misplaced focus.
“Actually, I needed to change quite a lot of psychological issues,” Perez mentioned. “Don’t get me flawed, when the fights began canceling and stuff like that, I felt like, ‘Rattling, what’s happening?’ I felt unhappy and stuff, however on the finish of the day, like I inform individuals, simply because one thing goes dangerous in your life doesn’t imply life stops. I’ve a son, I’ve my payments to pay. I’ve to maintain grinding.
“My boy … was like, ‘Stuff these emotions approach deep down till it’s time to come back out.’ [Laughs.] I simply sort of saved shifting ahead and listened to my crew. … All these guys that caught with me by my facet and instructed me, ‘Hey, you’re probably the greatest on this planet.’ I spar with these guys nonstop, I practice with these guys, and I can hold with these guys. … Confidence, I nonetheless had it. It was simply exhibiting the world that I nonetheless had it and I believe I did that tonight.”
The win actually did that and put him again into the thick of issues within the title hunt. At the moment ranked No. 8 within the UFC flyweight rankings, Perez will transfer up after beating the No. 5-ranked Nicolau, that means one or two wins might get him one other shot at gold. However even perhaps most significantly, it might have earned Perez a little bit credit score together with his buddies again house.
“All my buddies all the time name me ‘Pillow Arms,’ so now they’ll’t name me that anymore,” Perez mentioned with fun. “My buddy … was calling me ‘A.S.P. — Alex Sleeping Capsule Perez.’ Not as a result of I used to be placing individuals to sleep, however as a result of I used to be placing him to sleep each time he would commentate my fights, as a result of I used to be taking individuals down. So it simply exhibits I’m evolving. … It confirmed off tonight and we’re going to maintain working and go from there.”
