Alex Perez is still a UFC fighter.
Just days removed from his first-round knockout win over Charles Johnson at UFC 324, which served as the final fight on his contract with the promotion, the one-time flyweight title challenger was officially offered a new contract. Given his stunning performance and tenure with the company, it seemed unlikely that Perez wouldn’t be retained but after missing weight on Friday, he honestly wasn’t sure what the UFC might decide for him.
“You never know,” Perez told MMA Fighting. “I’m a business owner so I know sometimes you’ve got to make decisions, hard decisions. I’ve been around the UFC for a long time. I know Mick [Maynard] and I know Sean [Shelby], I know those guys, I’ve known them for years. Obviously they know about my son, they know my story. I wouldn’t have blamed them if they didn’t [re-sign me]. I didn’t do my job and I could never get mad at them for doing what they had to do because I didn’t do my part. If I did everything I needed to do and had a performance like that and they didn’t re-sign me, I feel like I could be upset at that.
“I don’t take no hard feelings if they would have let me go because at the end of the day, I didn’t do my job [making weight]. It’s my responsibility to do that. I didn’t know if I was going to get re-signed or not but I know they like exciting fights and I finished him so you’re telling me there’s a chance!”
While a few details still have to get worked out, Perez was understandably elated to get the news that the UFC wanted to keep him around for several more fights.
“I’m happy I’ve got a job still!” Perez said. “I don’t have to get a real job! I can still live my dream and spend time with my son, travel the world and all these crazy, nice people you meet on this journey. I’ve been blessed and grateful for this opportunity because not too many people get it.
“It’s looking good. I believe they gave me a new contract so we’re just finalizing everything. So hopefully we’ll be back in there the end of June, beginning of July. Give me some time to hang out with my son.”
As far as not making weight for his fight where Perez came in two-and-a-half pounds over the flyweight limit, he offered no excuses for what went wrong.
“To me, I didn’t feel bad. I felt great,” Perez said. “I just couldn’t sweat. My body was just holding onto everything. We tried every trick in the book. Get some water, get some electrolytes, do everything we could to try to get the body sweating but the body was fighting for its life. The one thing that we can’t control is the body. The body is a crazy thing. It has a mind of its own. I just couldn’t sweat anymore. We did everything we could. I was in the sauna. I had my wife and my nephew in the sauna, in the hot tub trying to help me with the weight and it just wasn’t coming off. It’s part of the game.
“I think I just jumped in too quick from camp to camp, fighting in Doha, [Qatar] and fighting this early in the year. I think I got a week to take a break and then I had to go into camp right away again. I was actually lighter in this camp than I was in the past but the body has a mind of its own. It stopped sweating, it felt like I was in danger and just held onto everything.”
No matter how it happened, Perez took ownership for the mistake and he even approached Johnson before the weigh-ins to apologize and tell him what happened. The fight moved forward with Perez handing over 25-percent of his purse but missing weight hurt him even more because he was ineligible for any post-fight bonuses, which would have included at minimum an extra $25,000 as part of the UFC’s new finish bonus that started with the Jan. 24 event.
Still, Perez says there’s no one to blame but himself for that.
“I’ve never shied away from a mistake or from a loss or anything,” Perez said. “I always point the finger at myself. I have a nutritionist, they’re great at helping me make weight. I have a great management team. A great team around me and at the end of the day, the only one responsible for Alex Perez is Alex Perez.
“I take full responsibility. No excuses. No putting it on anybody else. It’s me, myself and I on that one.”
Thankfully, Perez still went out and put on a jaw-dropping performance while becoming the first person to finish Johnson in his MMA career. The victory also stopped a two-fight losing skid and now Perez is anxious to build on that win, especially now that he’s returning to the UFC.
“It’s always good to get a finish, especially in our division,” Perez said. “That makes it more interesting, more exciting for us. I get a finish like that, people want to see me fight, people want to see me around. So it definitely helps me and it puts money in my pocket.
“That’s what UFC is looking for — finishes and exciting fighters. The UFC has the best fighters in the world but it’s a business as well. If they can market you, they can market your fighting style, you’re in the driver’s seat.”
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