Tomorrow night on the main card of UFC 277, we are going to see a pivotal matchup in the flyweight division. Top contenders will try to get into title contention as Alexandre Pantoja (24-5) takes on Alex Perez (24-6).
For Alex Perez, we haven’t seen him since UFC 255 when he lost in his title fight to Deiveson Figueiredo. A year and a half layoff as he’s had six fights get cancelled leading up to his return at UFC 277.
Overall, Perez is 6-2 during his run in the UFC after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. His only two losses have come against Figgy and all time divisional great Joseph Benavidez.
Perez is getting a very difficult fight tomorrow night in Alexandre Pantoja. Pantoja has back-to-back wins heading into UFC 277 over Brandon Royval and Manel Kape. Since May of 2018, he’s gone 6-2 which includes a win over former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno.
UFC 277 Prediction
This is a really tough task for Alex Perez at UFC 277. He hasn’t fought in a year and a half and he’s immediately coming in to take on one of the more dangerous contenders in the flyweight division. So how could he win tomorrow?
For Perez, it’s all going to be about scoring points and limiting damage. Pantoja is the more dangerous guy and it’s not close. However, Perez is going to throw a lot of volume and mix in his wrestling which can score him points.
It’ll be interesting to see how much he tries to grapple considering how good Pantoja is on the ground. For the most part, his path to victory is going to be through volume striking at UFC 277. Volume striking on his way to outpointing Pantoja is his path.
However, I don’t see the fight going down that path. I think the power and strength of Pantoja is just going to be too much. Whether things are on the ground or on the feet, the bigger attacks will come from Pantoja and that will win him rounds. It’ll be a competitive fight, but Pantoja gets the win here.
Prediction: Alexandre Pantoja by Decision