Alex Perez was left without an opponent for UFC 284 in Perth Australia in February this week when Kai Kara-France pulled out due to an injury, but now he has a new opponent and a new event to focus on.
Perez will now be fighting Manel Kape at UFC On ESPN 43, which takes place on March 25th in San Antonio, Texas, giving him well over a month more to prepare for the fight than his original booking.
The 30-year-old Perez is a former flyweight title challenger, losing out to Deiveson Figueiredo via guillotine choke back in November of 2020, before going on to also be submitted by another leading contender Alexandre Pantoja in July of this year.
Prior to that Perez was on a three-fight winning streak though and is still ranked No.6 in the division.
The 29-year-old Kape is a former Rizin champion who didn’t quite live up to expectations when he first joined the UFC, suffering back-to-back losses against Alexandre Pantoja and Matheus Nicolau.
However, Kape has since regrouped and gone on to compile a three-fight unbeaten run, including a KO of Ode Osbourne, TKO of Zhalgas Zhumagulov and most recently a unanimous decision victory over David Dvorak, leaving him ranked at No.9.
Perez vs. Kape joins a UFC On ESPN 43 card that doesn’t have a headliner yet, but will also feature Holly Holm vs. Yana Kunitskaya and Maycee Barber vs. Andrea Lee.
