Alex Perez just wanted to remind the rest of the flyweight division that he exists.
Team Ohyama’s success was also evident at UFC on ESPN 55 on Saturday night, when he knocked out Mateusz Nicolaou in 2 minutes and 16 seconds in the second round of their headlining showdown at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It was a much-needed performance for the former title challenger on the heels of three unsuccessful matches and multiple match cancellations.
“It just shows that I’m still here. I didn’t think I went anywhere.” Coach Perez said in the post-game press conference that he thought this division was in a way. “Obviously, all the games got canceled and my last three games didn’t go the way I had hoped.” Thank God for showing the department that I’m back.”
To get his first UFC win since June 2020, Perez admitted he needs to change his mindset. For that, the 32-year-old Californian turned to his team.
“To be honest, mentally I had to change a lot of things,” Perez said. “Don’t get me wrong, when they started canceling games and stuff like that, I was like, ‘Damn, what’s going on?'” There were some sad feelings, but at the end of the day, I As we tell people, life doesn’t stop just because something goes wrong in your life. I have a son, I have to pay the bills. You have to keep honing it.
“…I just kept moving forward and listened to my team. …They all stuck by me and told me, ‘Hey, you’re one of the best in the world.’ Told. I get to spar with them non-stop, train with them, hang out with them. … Confidence, yes, I still had it. It just showed the world that I still have it, and I think I did that tonight. ”
For Perez, ending his slump in this way was especially meaningful. Perez had been looked down upon by those close to him due to his lack of knockout wins in recent years. That changed on Saturday when Nicolaou landed a one-punch finish.
“…All my friends always call me ‘Pillow Hand.’ Now they can’t call me that anymore,” Perez said. “My friends used to call me ‘ASP,’ Alex ‘Sleeping Pills’ Perez. Not because I was putting people to sleep. But every time he would commentate on my matches because I would just beat him.” That’s how I’ve evolved. There’s definitely some work in progress that I wasn’t able to show you, but it was shown tonight. . We’re going to continue to work hard and move forward from there.”
