There have been reports that the UFC may eliminate the men’s flyweight division shortly, but Perez says his job is safe at the moment.
“I’m still with the UFC, we’re trying to pill that fight with Benavidez…trying to pill it and go from there. (We’ll) see what happens, it is what it is. If we don’t get it appealed, oh well…it’s a loss and not the first time that I lost. But I would like a rematch, I don’t think it was a bad fight. We collided heads and then I got punched in the back of the head about fifty times, that didn’t help either. I’m just recovering from that…the concussion and everything, just getting back in there,” says Perez in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.
That loss to Benavidez was a controversial one, which also featured two different fight stoppages by the referee.
UFC Flyweight Champion Henry Cejudo defeated UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw by first round TKO in the main event of UFC Fight Night Brooklyn, a bout Perez thinks was stopped too early.
“I mean, I feel like it was an early stoppage. I feel like (in) a champion versus champion fight…you have to let the guy go out. You can’t not let him go out, congrats to Cejudo…but I think…honestly, he doesn’t want to be in this weight class. Why are you going up to 135 if you want to save the weight class? You should stay there, you have guys that you haven’t beat…guys coming up. I mean, Benavidez beat him last. You got (Jussier) Formiga coming up…you got (Deiveson) Figueiredo coming up, you got a lot of guys in the division still that are a threat. So I just feel like…early stoppage or Cejudo doesn’t want to be at (1)25 anymore and I don’t blame him,” says Perez.
Perez has won three of four fights under the UFC banner and is ranked #9 in the UFC Flyweight Division.
