Alexander Salvador Perez[3] (born March 21, 1992) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
[6] He started wrestling in the sixth grade alongside his two brothers Silverio Esparza and Julian Perez.
[2] After Perez completed high school at Lemoore, he began helping friends train for their MMA fights due to his wrestling experience.
[8] He amassed a total of 16-4 before joining Dana White's Contender Series 5, facing Kevin Gray.
[9] Perez made his promotional debut on December 9, 2017, at UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Ortega against Carlos John de Tomas.
[18] Perez faced Mark De La Rosa in a bantamweight bout on March 30, 2019, at UFC on ESPN 2.
[26] However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that the event would be postponed to a future date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
[31] However, on October 2, it was announced that Perez would face Deiveson Figueiredo, replacing an injured Cody Garbrandt for the UFC Flyweight Championship at the same event.
In turn, Perez was removed from the card entirely and rescheduled to face Matt Schnell four weeks later on August 28, 2021, at UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs.
[39] At the weigh-ins, Alex Perez weighed in at 126.25 pounds, a quarter-pound over the flyweight non-title fight limit.
Shortly after the weigh-ins, officials had announced that the bout had been canceled due to Schnell withdrawing from the event because of a medical issue.
[41] At weigh-ins, Perez came in at 128 pounds and did not attempt to try again, resulting in Matt Schnell refusing to accept the catchweight bout and the fight being canceled.
[52] Perez faced Matheus Nicolau, as a replacement for Manel Kape, on April 27, 2024 at UFC on ESPN 55.
[58] Perez was booked to compete against two-time NCAA champion wrestler Roman Bravo-Young in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu match at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 on June 29, 2023.