Delayed Perez and Schnell clash could turn out to be title eliminator

ALEX PEREZ is firm favourite in the battle of the UFC flyweight contenders with Matt Schnell, a fight that has been moved a second time at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

The 29-year-old Californian fighter has been forced to wait for a chance to get back in the Octagon since his last fight – a two-minute UFC title defeat to Deiveson Figueiredo in November last year.

He took a short spell out after becoming a father earlier in the year and was due to fight Askar Askarov but injury forced the No.2 UFC flyweight contender to pull out of the bout, the Russian nursing a damaged right hand. The Schnell bout was then scheduled for May this year but moved to August when Perez withdrew with his own injury, a damaged pelvis, but the reason for the latest delay is not yet known.

The injury to Askarov has thrown the division wide open with victory for Perez or Schnell likely to put them on course for a title fight with Brandon Moreno – the Mexican admitting he would find it far tougher to face Schnell, reported fightful.com.

“Right now, the division is very weird. Askar Askarov had an injury – I think he’s the No. 1 contender,” said Moreno, who took the 125-pound belt by stopping Figueiredo with a rear-naked choke in the third round.

“He (Askarov) has an injury, he’s out for a few months. Cody Garbrandt’s not fighting till December, right? So maybe I need to wait a little bit to watch how the division moves – wait a little bit for (Alexandre) Pantoja, (Brandon) Royval; maybe Alex Perez, (Matt) Schnell. I don’t want to talk about Schnell because I love him, but he could be a possibility if he beats Alex Perez.”

Perez is ranked fourth in the division’s contender list, and is one of the few top fighters that Moreno has not faced before. Perez has a career fighting record of 24-6 with 12 stoppage wins, and his record since his UFC debut in 2017 is 6-2, including the submission loss to Figueiredo. Before that loss he had enjoyed a three-fight winning streak with a stoppage of Jussier Formiga, a unanimous points success over Mark De La Rosa and first round win over Jordan Espinosa.

Ninth-ranked contender Schnell also goes into the fight on the back of a defeat – losing to Rogerio Bontorin by unanimous decision in a fight arranged after the original date for the Perez clash was delayed.

Speaking recently about the Schnell fight, Perez said: “I feel it’s going to be an exciting fight – he likes to go out there, stand up and bang, and I do to; he’s good on the ground, I’m good on the ground. People think my weakness is my jujitsu, especially after that last fight (Figueiredo) so I’m excited to challenge myself.

“I’m excited to make a statement because I can’t say Deiveson beat me and it was a fluke because I never believe in luck – he threw up the submission and got it. I just reacted wrong.”

Schnell has been the far more active fighter this year with a split-decision win over veteran Tyson Nam along with the defeat to Bontorin, reports CNN.

According to IllinoisGambler, despite his near-ten month spell out of the Octagon, current trading has Perez at odds on favourite with Schnell the outsider at 5/2.