Lemoore’s Alex Perez sees UFC title shot fail. But as for 2020? He’s still ‘blessed’
All is not lost for Lemoore’s Alex Perez. Not in his UFC career, nor certainly in his personal life.
Sure, he would’ve liked to be a UFC champion. But there still is time for that, even after losing the biggest bout of his life. And by most anyone’s standards, he’s still had a momentous 2020, even as he and the rest of the U.S. come to grips with the coronavirus pandemic.
In his first UFC title fight, late Saturday against Deiveson Figueiredo, Perez wound up having to submit to the UFC flyweight champion with a guillotine choke. It came quickly: at 1:57 of the first round of the UFC 255 main event in Las Vegas that was broadcast on pay-per-view.
Perez dropped to 24-6 overall in MMA and 6-2 in the UFC. Figueiredo is 19-1 and 8-1.
“Well, it is what it is,” Perez wrote on his social media accounts after the bout, which began and ended around 10 p.m. PST. “It’s part of the business. Stuff happens. I’ll be back. 2020 has been a crazy year for me.”
How crazy? He squeezed in plenty of action in the octagon. Oh, and he’s a first-time father.
“Three fights and finding out I’ll be a dad. I’m beyond blessed,” he wrote.
Perez earned a UFC contract after defeating Kevin Gray in 2017 on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series at The Ultimate Fighter Gym in Las Vegas.
But the path to a UFC title shot started at the Save Mart Center in December 2017, when he forced Carls John de Tomas to submit in the second round.
After a loss to Joseph Benavidez in November 2018, Perez won three consecutive fights — the last two by technical submission (arm-triangle choke) and a TKO (leg kick).
Perez was a long shot this time around, rated a plus-250 underdog by William Hill Sportsbook and plus-230 by BetMGM.
“Thank you for all the support,” Perez noted in his Instagram post, “and I’ll be back!”
