UFC 277: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Alex Perez Picks and Predictions

Alexandre Pantoja and Alex Perez face off on Saturday on the main card in a flyweight bout at UFC 277 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Pantoja is currently ranked 4th while Perez is ranked 6th. 

Alexandre “The Cannibal” Pantoja comes into this fight with a 24-5 record overall and he has won two fights in a row. In August of 2021, Pantoja faced off against Brandon Royval in August of 2021 and he looked dominant in that fight. A little less than midway through the second round, Pantoja locked in a rear naked choke and secured the victory. Pantoja is averaging 4.24 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.34 significant strikes per minute. Pantoja is averaging 1.26 takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 38 percent of his takedown attempts. He also stops 67 percent of his opponent's takedown attempts. He is also averaging 1.1 submission attempts every 15 minutes. 

On the other side of this matchup is Alex Perez who sits with a 24-6 record overall and he has won three of his last four fights. Perez's last fight came against Deiveson Figueiredo in November of 2020 and he lost by submission.  Perez has tried to stay busy since that last fight but there have been a few fights canceled for different reasons. Perez was supposed to face off against Askar Askarov on July 16th but that fight was canceled. Perez is averaging 4.52 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.08 significant strikes per minute. He is averaging 2.92 takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 45 percent of his takedown attempts. He also stops 87 percent of his opponent's takedown attempts.