UFC Vegas 87: Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev continues on the main card with the featured bout between Alex Perez and Muhammad Mokaev in the flyweight division. Perez is coming off a lengthy 19-month layoff and back-to-back losses for the third time in his career meanwhile, Mokaev has a perfect unbeaten record most recently getting a dominant third-round submission victory in his last fight. With that said, check out our UFC odds series for our Perez-Mokaev prediction and pick.
Alex Perez (24-7) is finally making his return to the octagon (hopefully) this weekend after a 19-month layoff and numerous fight cancelations. Perez has now had 9 fight cancelations over the last three years as he has had some bad luck during that time but he seems healthy and ready to get back into the thick of things when he takes on the surging undefeated prospect Muhammad Mokaev in this weekend's featured bout on the main card at UFC Vegas 87.
Muhammad Mokaev (10-0) has now won all 10 of his professional bouts in his MMA career and he most recently submitted longtime UFC veteran Tim Elliott in his most recent bout. Mokaev will be attempting to keep the good times rolling by making it 11 straight wins in a row this weekend when he takes on Alex Perez live at the UFC Apex at UFC Vegas 87.
Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of BetOnline.
UFC Vegas 87 Odds: Alex Perez-Muhammad Mokaev Odds
Alex Perez: +285
Muhammad Mokaev: -350
Over 2.5 rounds: -115
Under 2.5 rounds: -115
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Why Alex Perez Will Win
Alex Perez has been at the top of the heap in the flyweight rankings for quite some time now but injuries and fight cancelations really derailed his momentum mightily. He did get to fight for the title but that was on extremely short notice after Brandon Moreno withdrew from the bout and then he subsequently submitted in round one. Perez will be looking to make up for lost time when he finally gets back into the octagon after a 19-month layoff to take on undefeated prospect Muhammad Mokaev.
When Perez is at his best he is beating the best that the flyweight division has to offer. He has the power in his strikes to keep fighters like Mokaev from being hesitant to just walk him down and he has the wrestling chops to dictate where he wants this fight. This fight all depends on whether Perez is still at the top of his game or not, if he is this is going to be a rude awakening for Mokaev but if he has missed a step at all someone like Mokaev can take full advantage. It's up to Perez to be at his best and mix it up and take it to the young flyweight prospect to get himself back into title contention.
Why Muhammad Mokaev Will Win
Muhammad Mokaev came into his UFC debut as a rising undefeated prospect making very quick work of Cody Durden by submitting him in just 58 seconds into the first round. He has since gone a perfect 5-0 in the UFC and is looking for his biggest victory to date when he takes on No. 7 ranked flyweight contender Alex Perez.
Mokaev is a fighter that never quits no matter what adversity he has to fight through. He was able to battle through tearing ligaments in his knee from a very deep kneebar from Jafel Filho, who's a high-level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, to submitting him moments thereafter just 28 seconds before the final horn. That willingness to take his opponents into deep water and drown them will serve him well against a fighter like Perez who's coming off a very long layoff. If Mokaev can keep the grappling pace and pressure on Perez for the entirety of the fight he has the chance of catching him in a submission for his 7th of his career.
Final Alex Perez-Muhammad Mokaev Prediction & Pick
This is a great fight between two of the top flyweight contenders. Perez at his peak was one of the top title contenders and while his first title shot didn't go his way, he still battled against Deiveson Figueiredo with barely any time to prepare. He's going to have to knock that ring rust off of him early if he's going to want to get back on track this weekend against Mokaev.
As for Mokaev, he's going to need to do what he does best and that is utilize his relentless grappling pressure to break down and wear on Perez. The last two high-level grapplers that Perez has faced he was submitted against and he's also been submitted in five of his seven losses with the path to victory being quite clear for Mokaev. Ultimately, Perez will do his best at trying to keep this fight on the feet for the early going until Mokaev puts him through the wringer with his grappling, breaking him down, and eventually submitting him in the later portion of this fight and putting his name at the top of the list for the next title shot.
Click here for more betting news and predictions
Final Alex Perez-Muhammad Mokaev Prediction & Pick: Muhammad Mokaev (-350), Under 2.5 Rounds (-115)
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