Perez did not take a glamorous path to the UFC. He fought repeatedly on regional cards, became a Tachi Palace Fights champion, earned his contract through Dana White’s Contender Series and eventually challenged for the UFC flyweight championship.

Along the way, injuries, cancelled fights and long periods of inactivity tested him almost as much as the opponents inside the cage.

Alex Perez Fighter Information

Who Is Alex Perez?

Alex Perez is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the UFC flyweight division.

Before reaching the UFC, he spent years building experience on the California regional circuit.

Perez eventually earned his UFC opportunity through Dana White’s Contender Series and later fought Deiveson Figueiredo for the UFC flyweight championship.

His career has lasted since 2011, giving him significantly more professional experience than many of the fighters he has faced.

Where Is Alex Perez From?

Perez was born in Hanford, California, and has strong ties to Lemoore, California.

Both communities sit in California’s Central Valley.

That location matters to his story because Perez did not grow up in one of America’s major MMA hubs.

He has described himself simply as a kid from Lemoore who never expected fighting to take him around the world.

His early fighting career also stayed close to home, with many of his professional appearances taking place in Lemoore.

What Is Alex Perez’s Heritage?

Alex Perez is American and is of Mexican descent.

His background information also states that he grew up in a large family with eight siblings.

That large-family upbringing was closely connected to his first sport.

Two of his brothers joined him when he began wrestling.

How Did Alex Perez Start Wrestling?

Perez began wrestling in the sixth grade.

He started alongside his brothers Silverio Esparza and Julian Perez.

Wrestling quickly became much more than an after-school activity.

By high school, Perez was training in an extremely demanding environment at Lemoore High.

He has remembered practices lasting roughly two and a half hours while the team trained throughout the year.

That grind helped shape the mentality he later brought into MMA.

Where Did Alex Perez Wrestle in High School?

Perez wrestled at Lemoore High School.

He trained under California Hall of Fame wrestling coach Kent Olson.

Perez has spoken warmly about that period of his life.

The practices were demanding, but he believes they taught him what he could endure and how hard he was capable of working.

Later, when MMA introduced punches and kicks into the equation, that wrestling mentality gave him a foundation for dealing with uncomfortable situations.

Did Alex Perez Wrestle in College?

Yes.

Perez wrestled for West Hills College Lemoore.

During his sophomore season, he became a regional champion and earned All-American honors.

His college wrestling background became one of the most important technical foundations of his MMA career.

However, Perez did not simply convert wrestling into takedowns.

Over time, he developed enough striking and submission ability to become dangerous in every major phase of MMA.

How Did Alex Perez Get Into MMA?

MMA entered Perez’s life through wrestling.

After high school, friends preparing for MMA fights began asking him for help because of his wrestling experience.

At the same time, Perez was still attending college.

He has joked that one reason MMA appealed to him was that he did not want a conventional job.

The deeper reason was competition.

Perez has described himself as naturally competitive, and fighting gave him another place to test that instinct.

How Old Was Alex Perez When He Started Fighting?

Perez began fighting professionally while still very young.

He has said he entered his first fight around age 18 and moved almost directly from years of wrestling into MMA.

His professional debut came in 2011.

That means his body had already gone through years of competitive wrestling before he began adding the wear associated with professional fighting.

Perez later acknowledged that recovery science was not something he understood particularly well when he was younger.

What Was Alex Perez’s First Professional Fight?

Perez made his professional MMA debut against Jesus Castro at Tachi Palace Fights in 2011.

He won by first-round TKO.

That victory began a regional career that eventually included dozens of fights across California and other parts of the United States.

The early years were not perfect.

Perez suffered losses as a young fighter, but he continued competing and developing instead of trying to protect an unbeaten record.

What Was Tachi Palace Fights to Alex Perez?

Tachi Palace Fights became one of the most important promotions in Perez’s development.

The organization operated in Lemoore, meaning Perez was able to build much of his early professional career close to home.

He fought there repeatedly and faced a mixture of prospects and experienced regional fighters.

Eventually, Perez became the Tachi Palace Fights flyweight champion.

That championship came years before most UFC fans knew his name.

Why Was Wrestling So Important to Alex Perez’s MMA Career?

Wrestling gave Perez more than takedowns.

It taught him discipline.

The long practices, year-round training and constant competition at Lemoore High helped condition him for the grind of MMA.

Perez has said that wrestling prepared his mindset even though getting punched and kicked required a completely different adjustment.

That mentality remained central to him even after he became an experienced UFC fighter.

How Did Alex Perez Reach Dana White’s Contender Series?

Perez built a professional record of 16-4 before appearing on Dana White’s Contender Series.

He faced Kevin Gray in 2017.

Perez won by anaconda choke in the first round.

The performance earned him a UFC contract.

Unlike many Contender Series prospects, Perez entered the show with years of experience already behind him.

When Did Alex Perez Join the UFC?

Perez made his UFC debut in December 2017.

He faced Carls John de Tomas and submitted him in the second round.

The result extended the momentum Perez had built on the regional circuit and Contender Series.

From there, he began climbing through one of the UFC’s fastest divisions.

What Is Alex Perez’s Fighting Style?

Perez is a wrestling-based mixed martial artist with legitimate finishing ability both on the feet and on the ground.

His record reflects that balance.

He has won professional fights by knockout, submission and decision.

Perez’s wrestling gives him control and scrambling ability, while his striking has developed enough for him to stop high-level flyweights.

He also has several choke submissions on his record, including anaconda, guillotine and arm-triangle finishes.

How Good Is Alex Perez’s Grappling?

Grappling has been part of Perez’s identity since childhood.

However, his ground game extends beyond wrestling.

One of the clearest examples came against Jordan Espinosa.

Perez secured an arm-triangle submission even though he later explained that he had never previously submitted an opponent from that position.

It was an adjustment he recognized during the fight rather than a finish he had specifically built his career around.

Perez has also competed in professional grappling outside MMA.

Who Is Alex Perez’s Coach?

Perez’s head coach is Colin Oyama of Team Oyama.

Their relationship is especially important because Perez places enormous value on loyalty.

He has spoken openly about refusing to blame his coaches when a fight goes badly.

If the team prepares him correctly and he makes a mistake inside the cage, Perez believes the responsibility belongs to him.

That philosophy has helped him maintain long relationships instead of changing teams after every setback.

Why Is Alex Perez So Loyal to Team Oyama?

For Perez, loyalty extends far beyond MMA strategy.

Many of the people around him have been part of his life since he was a teenager.

He has known some members of his circle since around age 14 and others since approximately 18.

Perez has described those relationships as family.

Therefore, losing a fight does not automatically make him question the people around him.

Instead, he believes fighters must take responsibility for their own decisions once the cage door closes.

Who Helps Train Alex Perez?

Perez works within a collaborative coaching structure rather than relying on only one person.

Colin Oyama leads the overall direction, while other coaches contribute in specialized areas.

Perez has discussed working with coaches on wrestling, striking, jiu-jitsu and fight analysis.

He likes that the coaches around him are willing to share ideas without competing over who receives the most attention.

For Perez, the important thing is that everyone is trying to help him win.

Was Alex Perez a UFC Title Challenger?

Yes.

Perez challenged Deiveson Figueiredo for the UFC flyweight championship in 2020.

Originally, Perez had been booked against Brandon Moreno.

However, circumstances changed and Perez received the opportunity to fight Figueiredo for the title.

Figueiredo won by first-round guillotine choke.

For Perez, the defeat became an example of his personal accountability.

Did Alex Perez Blame His Coaches After Losing to Deiveson Figueiredo?

No.

Perez has specifically used that fight to explain his philosophy about responsibility.

He said his team had spent weeks preparing him to defend the guillotine.

During the fight, however, Perez made a split-second decision that allowed Figueiredo to catch the submission.

Perez has been clear that he does not blame Colin Oyama for that mistake.

The coaches prepared him.

He believes what happened after that was his responsibility.

Why Has Alex Perez Had So Many Cancelled Fights?

Perez’s career has been unusually affected by bouts falling apart.

Some cancellations came because Perez was injured or unavailable.

Others happened because opponents withdrew.

He has experienced situations where fights changed repeatedly and even reached fight week before disappearing.

In one interview, the number of cancelled or disrupted matchups was discussed as being around 16 fights.

Perez also acknowledged that responsibility was shared.

He has never claimed that every cancellation was someone else’s fault.

How Did Cancelled Fights Affect Alex Perez Mentally?

At first, the interruptions were difficult.

Repeatedly preparing for fights that never happened created frustration and uncertainty.

Eventually, Perez changed how he viewed circumstances outside his control.

He began focusing more heavily on the people closest to him instead of criticism from strangers online.

Perez has explained that social media became less important once he realized he was allowing people he did not know to affect his mindset.

That perspective helped him deal with setbacks without allowing every disruption to dominate his life.

How Does Alex Perez Prepare Mentally for a Fight?

Perez likes to prepare early.

Once he hears that a possible fight is being discussed, his mindset begins shifting toward camp.

He does not necessarily start pushing his body at maximum intensity immediately.

Instead, he begins organizing his training and daily routine so the transition into the harder part of camp becomes easier.

Perez summarized that mentality around a simple idea: he cannot control what happens later, but he can control what he does now.

Does Alex Perez Study His Opponents?

Yes, although he does not obsess over tape.

Perez has said he studies opponents less than he did earlier in his career.

Watching too much can sometimes make a fighter overthink every possible reaction.

Instead, he generally reviews several recent fights to identify tendencies.

Then his coaches perform deeper analysis and build the game plan around what they see.

That allows Perez to stay aware without trying to mentally script every second of the fight.

What Does Alex Perez Think About Other UFC Flyweights?

Perez follows the division, but he tries not to become consumed by other fighters’ careers.

He has said that unless another result directly affects him, he generally just wants to watch a good fight.

His focus remains on himself and whoever the UFC gives him next.

Perez has also said he is not someone who spends much time rejecting opponents.

For him, the next assignment becomes the next problem to solve.

Has Alex Perez Dealt With Serious Injuries?

Yes.

Years of wrestling followed immediately by a long MMA career have created significant wear on his body.

Perez has spoken about injuries accumulating as he became older, particularly because recovery and mobility were not emphasized as heavily during the earlier part of his career.

One major setback involved an ACL injury.

Rehabilitation became an important part of his eventual return to competition.

Does Alex Perez Still Wrestle?

Wrestling remains part of Perez’s life even though he no longer coaches it as heavily as he once did.

He has helped other professional fighters with wrestling and MMA training.

That reflects how far his original skill has carried him.

What started in sixth grade eventually became useful not only for his own career but also for other high-level fighters.

Is Alex Perez Married?

Yes.

Perez has a wife.

He has publicly thanked her for supporting him through difficult training camps and periods when he was dealing with challenges away from competition.

His supplied biographical material also confirms that Perez and his wife have a son.

Does Alex Perez Have Children?

Yes.

Alex Perez and his wife have one son, who was born in 2021.

Fatherhood has changed how Perez organizes his training.

He has spoken about adjusting his schedule around his son’s activities, including wrestling and T-ball.

That makes wrestling a family connection across another generation.

Is Alex Perez Religious?

Perez has publicly expressed Christian faith.

After one UFC victory, his first statement during the post-fight interview was to give glory to God.

He repeated that faith while discussing the people who helped him through a particularly difficult training camp.

Because Perez himself publicly referenced God as central to his life and career, his faith is clearly supported by the supplied material.

What Is Alex Perez Like Outside the Cage?

Perez comes across as competitive, straightforward and loyal.

Competition was one of the main reasons he entered MMA in the first place.

However, his career also shows a willingness to accept responsibility.

When fights fall apart, he acknowledges when part of the blame belongs to him.

When he loses, he avoids blaming his coaches.

When discussing his longtime team, he repeatedly returns to loyalty.

That combination gives a clearer picture of Perez than his fight record alone.

What Makes Alex Perez Different?

Alex Perez’s career is a story of endurance.

He started wrestling in sixth grade.

Then he wrestled through high school and became an All-American at West Hills College Lemoore.

Afterward, he moved directly into fighting.

The California regional scene gave him years of experience before the Contender Series finally opened the UFC door.

Once there, Perez climbed far enough to challenge for the flyweight championship.

Yet his career has never moved in a straight line.

Injuries interrupted him.

Opponents withdrew.

Fights disappeared.

Long layoffs forced him to rebuild his rhythm.

Still, Perez kept returning to the same basic foundation: wrestling, competition, Team Oyama and the people who had been around him long before UFC cameras arrived.

That loyalty may be the most consistent thread in his entire career.

Alex Perez FAQ

Who is Alex Perez?

Alex Perez is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the UFC flyweight division.

What is Alex Perez’s full name?

His full name is Alexander Salvador Perez.

Does Alex Perez have a nickname?

No established official nickname was listed in the supplied fighter profiles.

When was Alex Perez born?

He was born on March 21, 1992.

Where was Alex Perez born?

Perez was born in Hanford, California, United States.

Where is Alex Perez from?

He has strong roots in Lemoore and California’s Central Valley.

What nationality is Alex Perez?

He is American.

What is Alex Perez’s heritage?

Perez is of Mexican descent.

How many siblings does Alex Perez have?

Perez comes from a family of nine children, meaning he has eight siblings.

How tall is Alex Perez?

He is listed at 5’6″ (168 cm).

What is Alex Perez’s reach?

His supplied fighter profiles list his reach at approximately 65.5 inches (166 cm).

What weight class does Alex Perez fight in?

Perez competes at flyweight.

What is Alex Perez’s MMA record?

Alex Perez’s professional MMA record is 26-10-0 with one no contest.

How many knockout wins does Alex Perez have?

Perez has seven professional knockout or TKO victories.

How many submission wins does Alex Perez have?

He has seven professional submission victories.

What is Alex Perez’s fighting style?

Perez is a wrestling-based mixed martial artist with effective submissions and developed striking.

Did Alex Perez wrestle in college?

Yes. He wrestled for West Hills College Lemoore.

Was Alex Perez an All-American wrestler?

Yes. He became a regional champion and All-American during his sophomore college season.

When did Alex Perez start wrestling?

He began wrestling in the sixth grade.

When did Alex Perez start professional MMA?

Perez made his professional debut in 2011.

Was Alex Perez a champion before the UFC?

Yes. He was a Tachi Palace Fights flyweight champion.

Was Alex Perez on Dana White’s Contender Series?

Yes. He defeated Kevin Gray by submission and earned a UFC contract in 2017.

When did Alex Perez make his UFC debut?

He made his UFC debut in December 2017.

Did Alex Perez fight for a UFC title?

Yes. Perez challenged Deiveson Figueiredo for the UFC flyweight championship in 2020.

Who is Alex Perez’s coach?

His head coach is Colin Oyama.

Where does Alex Perez train?

Perez is affiliated with Team Oyama.

Why has Alex Perez stayed with Team Oyama?

Perez places a high value on loyalty and has maintained relationships with many coaches and teammates for years.

Has Alex Perez had many cancelled fights?

Yes. His UFC career has included an unusually large number of bouts that were cancelled or rescheduled for various reasons.

Is Alex Perez married?

Yes. Perez has a wife.

Does Alex Perez have children?

Yes. Alex Perez and his wife have a son who was born in 2021.

What religion is Alex Perez?

Perez has publicly expressed Christian faith, including giving glory to God during a UFC post-fight interview.

Does Alex Perez coach wrestling?

He has helped train professional fighters in wrestling and MMA, although he has said he no longer coaches wrestling as regularly as he once did.

What is Alex Perez’s Instagram?

Alex Perez can be found on Instagram at @alexperezmma.