Tag: Ailin Perez

Ailin Perez sees Amanda Nunes’ retirement as positive for division: ‘There’s a lot of hope for everyone’

UFC women’s bantamweight Ailin Perez reacts to Amanda Nunes’ retirement from MMA.

Amanda Nunes’ vacated the UFC women’s featherweight and bantamweight titles and walked away from the sport, leaving a huge void in women’s MMA.

And though that may be perceived as a bad thing, given the absence of a historical figure, to others it’s a positive.

[autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag], who aspires to become UFC champion, believes Nunes’ retirement is a good thing for the division.

“From a technical standpoint, it’s positive because she’s a beast, and she’s the best in every aspect,” Perez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “As far as a moral or sentimental standpoint, I fight against anyone. If I had to fight against her, I’d give her a fight, regardless of the result. That’s in my blood. That runs inside of me. That’s what I feel.

“Her retirement doesn’t change my desire to fight the champion and win that title. I’ve gone through many difficult things in all camps, I know what I want, and I’m working hard for it.”

Perez (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) returns to the octagon Saturday on the preliminary card of UFC on ESPN 49 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The Argentine fighter takes on Ashlee Evans-Smith (6-5 MMA, 3-5 UFC) in a women’s bantamweight bout.

Perez knows there’s work to be done to enter title contention, but she’s hoping Saturday will be a good step toward her goal of becoming champion, especially now that Nunes is gone.

“There’s a lot of hope,” Perez said. “There’s a lot of hope for everyone. We all have an opportunity now. You just need to do things well, train and be more focused. Amanda did it, and so can we.”

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Nunes announced her retirement after she defended the bantamweight her title against Irene Aldana in the main event of UFC 289 in June. Many thought she had plenty more to give, but she walked away as champion and the best female fighter in the sport.

Despite her standing, Perez wasn’t surprised to see Nunes retire from MMA. She believes her legacy is complete and there’s nothing else to prove for Nunes.

“She already showed us who is the best of all time in women’s MMA history,” Perez said. “She also had proved it against Valentina Shevchenko, who was the champion at flyweight.

“No, I wasn’t surprised because she had a perfect career. I wasn’t surprised at all. I’m happy for who she is, but I’m also not moved a ton by it. She left the company, the title is now vacant, and we’re all hungry to be champion. And a message for all the girls in my division: ‘This July 15, you’re going to truly get to know me and this victory will put me one step closer to the title.'”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (April 24-30)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from April 24-30.

Hailey Cowan reveals ovarian cyst rupture forced withdrawal from UFC Fight Night 220

Hailey Cowan’s reason to pull out of her UFC Fight Night 220 bout with Ailin Perez sounds like a pretty serious one.

[autotag]Hailey Cowan[/autotag]’s reason to pull out of her UFC Fight Night 220 bout with [autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag] sounds like a pretty serious one.

Cowan’s (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) withdrawal this past weekend was ruled as being due to illness by the promotion, but the Dana White Contender Series alum revealed that she experienced an ovarian cyst rupture the night before weigh-ins, which caused a lot of bleeding.

She explained what happened Tuesday night in an Instagram post..

“I had an ovarian cyst rupture in the night before weigh-ins. I lost a lot of blood and the doctors pulled me,” Cowan wrote. “I was on weight and ready to go. Super unfortunate but we will rebook ASAP. Apologies to the fans and my opponent, but this was beyond my control.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpPGS7juhkl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

Cowan was awarded a UFC contract when she scored a decision win over Claudia Leite in August through Dana White’s Contender Series. Her opponent Perez (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) fell short in her UFC debut this past September in Paris when she was submitted by Stephanie Egger.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Perez expressed frustration at the last-minute fight cancellation after leaving her 5-year-old son in Argentina with her parents to train at MMA Masters in Florida.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 220.

Leaving behind country and son, UFC’s Ailin Perez gutted by cancelation of Hailey Cowan bout

It wasn’t easy for Ailin Perez to process the cancellation of her bout against Hailey Cowan at UFC Fight Night 220.

[autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag] did it all in the end, but fight.

The UFC women’s bantamweight went through a full training camp, traveled to Las Vegas, and did all the pre-fight media for the UFC Fight Night 220. She then cut and successfully made weight, but was informed there be no fight on Saturday night.

Her opponent, newcomer Hailey Cowan (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), was forced to withdraw due to illness. Just like that, Perez (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was left without an opponent.

“When I got the news that I wasn’t fighting, I just felt bitter and very sad,” Perez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I didn’t get a sense during the week that this fight wasn’t happening. I saw her very assured, I crossed paths with her in between training, and she looked good, she looked lucid. I was also contacted to do an interview to react to her comments, and that was strange because she was saying it was going to be an easy and bloody fight. I waited for her at weigh-ins to face off and look at her in the eyes, and she never showed up.”

The Argentine was gutted by the news, as she was eager to return to the cage to get her first UFC win since she lost in her UFC debut back in September. Perez was angry to see all her work and sacrifice not pay off. For this specific fight, Perez made a few major changes to enhance her career.

Trying to further her game now that she’s in the UFC, Perez made the tough decision to switch teams, leaving behind her group in Argentina. She packed her bags and in December moved to the U.S. to live and train at the MMA Masters headquarters in Miami, Fla.

It was a big investment, going from spending Argentine pesos to now American dollars, but that’s just money. The real sacrifice for Perez was leaving behind her five-year-old son, who was cared for by her parents.

“The hardest thing about all this was the distance that I have with my son,” Perez explained. “I’m here for a future. I want to be UFC champion, and I will become one, but I’m also here to give my son a better future. Both things go hand in hand.

“First, I want to be able to bring him to the U.S. and have him live with me. But as you said, the economy here is different, and I come from a country that’s in a different situation, and here is very expensive. So I need to make double the sacrifice. The toughest part was leaving my son behind. I left in December and it’s almost March.

“So yes, I had to spend a lot of money because the U.S. is not cheap, even just on a day-to-day basis, but the toughest part was leaving my son. I wasn’t with him on New Year’s. I’m not there at night to keep him company, and he’s just five. He just started kindergarten and I missed out on his first days in kindergarten. I’ve missed out on soccer tournaments of his, and I really wanted to be there. He plays goalie on a team. That hurts me a lot. As I mother, I value those things. By far the biggest sacrifice is being away from my son.”

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Fortunately, the UFC did recognize Perez’s efforts and did give her some money for living up to her end of the deal. Perez is relieved to have received that compensation. She was also given the opportunity to get a quick return, but that’s going to have to wait.

“The UFC treated me very well, and they did give me compensation so that I’m OK and I don’t go so many months without a pay,” Perez said. “I did the work. I needed that money because everyone knows I have a son and that’s how I provide for him. This is my job. They (UFC) helped me a lot.

“They also offered me that I could fight in a couple of weeks or anytime after that. I need to speak with my coaches to see when’s the best time to come back. For now, I’m going back to Argentina to spend time with my son because I need that. I can’t take a fight right away, my son always comes first above anything.”

Perez expects to compete in a couple of months. She doesn’t want to take too long to return to the octagon. Ideally, Perez hopes to get re-booked with Cowan. Not only did she already prepare and gameplan for her, but this experience left her with a sour taste.

“Hopefully that’s the next one, and I’m not going to stop training,” Perez said. “I’d like to get that fight for two reasons. One: that fight needs to happen, there’s a reason why they booked that fight. It needs to happen. Two: I want to break her head for all the trash talk she made.”

 

UFC Fight Night 220 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Brendan Allen’s $11,000 tops card

UFC Fight Night 220 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 220 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $104,000.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC Fight Night 220 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 220 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Brendan Allen[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Augusto Sakai[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Don’Tale Mayes[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Tatiana Suarez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Montana De La Rosa[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Mike Malott[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yohan Lainesse[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Trevor Peek[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Erick Gonzalez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jasmine Jasudavicius[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Gabriella Fernandes[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jordan Leavitt[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Victor Martinez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ode Osbourne[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Charles Johnson[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Joe Solecki[/autotag]: $6,000
def.[autotag]Carl Deaton[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag][Nurullo Aliev[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Rafael Alves[/autotag]: $4,500

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2207 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2201 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $1,157,500
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $15,676,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 220.

Hailey Cowan out of UFC Fight Night 220 due to illness; bout vs. Ailin Perez canceled

A women’s bantamweight matchup between Hailey Cowan and Ailin Perez is off UFC Fight Night 220 at the last minute.

[autotag]Hailey Cowan[/autotag]’s UFC debut is on hold.

Cowan (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has been forced out of her women’s bantamweight bout against [autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag], which was scheduled to go down at UFC Fight Night 220 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Due to Cowan’s withdrawal, Perez (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) won’t get a last-minute opponent. The bout has been canceled.

The news was announced Friday by the UFC.

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Cowan was looking to make her debut following a decision win over Claudia Leite in August, when she won a contract with the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series.

Perez was hoping to get her first win in the octagon after she came up short in her debut last September in France.

With the cancellation, the UFC Fight Night 220 lineup is as follows:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

  • Nikita Krylov vs. Ryan Spann
  • Brendan Allen vs. Andre Muniz
  • Don’Tale Mayes vs. Augusto Sakai
  • Montana De La Rosa vs. Tatiana Suarez
  • Yohan Lainesse vs. Mike Malott

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)

  • Erick Gonzalez vs. Trevor Peek
  • Gabriella Fernandes vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
  • Jordan Leavitt vs. Victor Martinez
  • Charles Johnson vs. Ode Osbourne
  • Carl Deaton vs. Joe Solecki
  • Nurullo Aliev vs. Rafael Alves

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Argentina’s Ailin Perez revitalized by move to MMA Masters before second UFC fight: ‘This is where I need to be’

Ailin Perez explains why she moved to MMA Masters ahead of her return at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 220.

MIAMI – [autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag] has made some major changes.

The Argentine UFC women’s bantamweight relocated across the Americas to set up shop at MMA Masters in preparation for her return this Saturday against Hailey Cowan at UFC Fight Night 220. Perez (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) looks to get her first win in the octagon after she lost her promotional debut back in September in the UFC’s historic first event in France.

Perez, who lives in Argentina and has done most of her training there, is not ready to give up on her UFC dreams and is determined to make herself a staple in the company.

“I contact the trainers here, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Paris, and they liked me, and I liked them a lot,” Perez told MMA Junkie in Spanish regarding her connection to MMA Masters. “Their work is well known here in the U.S., and I said, ‘OK, let’s try it out.’

“Fighting in the UFC gives me life, so let’s continue the path. The result (from the debut) won’t define me as a person, and the journey continues. It’s not going to end my career or frustrate me. If anything, it’s going to push me forward. So I went and tried it out, I got here in October, and I said, ‘It’s here. This is where I need to be.'”

MMA Masters is home of several UFC fighters such as Colby Covington, Nate Landwehr, Priscila Cachoeira, Miguel Baeza and Danny Chavez. It also helped launch Amanda Nunes’ career, who’s considered by many to be the greatest female fighter of all time.

Perez felt she needed a world-class gym in order to continue her MMA journey. Although very thankful for the work she’s done in Argentina and Brazil, Perez is happy she decided to go to MMA Masters.

“My evolution was improving week by week,” Perez said. “All the training partners have been very helpful. I obviously miss my son. My next goal is to be able to bring him. But nothing is impossible. I’m here, and I’m ready to put on a show on (Saturday).”

Ailin Perez at UFC Paris weigh-ins.

Perez believes she’s improved tremendously this training camp. Although she’s felt the growth in many areas, the 28-year-old believes the strategy and the way she approaches fights will be the biggest difference.

“If I had to define the change in words, the first word I’d use is strategy,” Perez said. ‘The second word that I would use would be family.

“The strategy when it comes to approaching a fight like, ‘OK, here we have a fighter, and here’s the other. How can we beat her using the tools that we have? Here are her weaknesses and her strengths.’ These are 5-minute rounds. People think that’s a lot, but it’s not. You close and open your eyes, and the fight is over. And as far as the family aspect, we’re all very united here. We’re all here to help each other. In that aspect, we’re all together. MMA Masters gave me that confidence that I can do it, that I can come back even stronger.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 220.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Nov. 14-20)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from Nov. 14-20.

Hailey Cowan to make UFC debut vs. Ailin Perez in February

UFC freshman Hailey Cowan will take on sophomore Ailin Perez, a fighter who went viral for her weigh-in twerking.

[autotag]Hailey Cowan[/autotag] has her first UFC assignment.

At the UFC Fight Night event scheduled for Feb. 25, Cowan (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will take on promotional sophomore [autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC). While no location has been announced yet, the card is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas pending unforeseen changes.

Contracts for the bantamweight bout have not yet been signed, but verbal agreements are in place.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the impending booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Cowan, 30, signed a contract with the UFC after a successful Dana White’s Contender Series split decision performance in August. The win over Claudia Leite marked her seventh win in her most recent eight outings and received praise from UFC president Dana White.

Perez, 28, made her UFC debut in September up a weight class against Stephanie Egger. Although she lost by second-round submission, Perez increased her notoriety the day prior with ceremonial faceoff twerking that went viral.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Feb. 25 includes:

  • Jordan Leavitt vs. Victor Martinez
  • Denys Bondar vs. Ode Osbourne
  • Hailey Cowan vs. Ailin Perez

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UFC Fight Night 209 post-event facts: Ciryl Gane rebounds on home soil

Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 209, which saw Ciryl Gane knock out Tai Tuivasa in the main event.

The UFC’s debut event in France was nothing short of spectacular on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 209 at Accor Arena in Paris being a memorable show.

The hometown hero emerged with a stellar win in the main event, as [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) broke down and eventually finished [autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag] (15-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) with a third-round knockout in the headlining act between heavyweight contenders.

For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 209.