Top flyweights will fight on the card before the interim title for their division is put on the line. With Brandon Moreno taking on Kai Kara-France later in the night, the phase is perfectly prepare for either contender Alexandre Pantoja or Alex Perez to make a statement about when they should get their shot.

Pantoja, a UFC standout since 2017, has earned his spot at #4 in the rankings. His nearly recent streak is made up of 2 wins to Brandon Royval, and Manel Kape, and from earlier in his career, he actually holds ii wins over Moreno (one on the Ultimate Fighter), the recently dethroned champion.

Perez, who has been out since 2020 when he came up short in a title bout against the electric current undisputed champion Deiveson Figueiredo, earned that shot on a iii-fight win streak over Jussier Formiga, Jordan Espinosa, and Mark De La Rosa. His fight at UFC 277 will mark his comeback fight, where he will expect to prove he is notwithstanding a notable name amongst the contenders.

UFC 277 is this Saturday nighttime, and the PPV primary card volition stream live exclusively on ESPN+. Order UFC 277 here to watch every fight live this weekend.

Betting Odds

The more than agile Pantoja will come in as a -180 favorite against the returning Perez.

  • Pantoja: -180 (MyBookie)
  • Perez: +150 (MyBookie)

Breakdown

Both Pantoja and Perez are extremely aggressive fighters. Pantoja typically tends to come out a petty bit faster, but Perez has shown the same ability should the game program require it. Against "Shorty" Torres back in 2018, Perez came out from the opening bong like a bat out of hell because Torres was relatively known as a cold starter. Notwithstanding, what we take seen more lately from Perez is an inclination to exam his opponent with leg kicks for the beginning few minutes of the fight from the outside if he believes they accept the power to respect. Pantoja has one of the heaviest right hands in the 125lb segmentation, so it is likely that we may run across a more respectful Perez in the opening moments of this tour.

All the same, that'south just every bit much as he tin can afford to, equally Pantoja is known for his trend to move forward and happily eat a few shots in society to state his ain knowing he has the superior potential to cause impairment. He likes to cross-pace with punches in bunches and is able to move forrard freely due to his confidence off of his back. He is constantly throwing upwards submission threats when taken down, although his greatest success is using these threats to create scrambles where he can ultimately either end up on summit and progress to the back or transition to the back immediately. Seven of his nine submission victories came by mode of rear-naked asphyxiate.

Perez, after testing the waters with his slick low calf kick, usually graduates to a very aggressive style. He overwhelms opponents with a wide shot selection, from knees up the centre to punches through and around the guard with expert accuracy and massive ferocity. His speed is very good, along with his work rate, but a lot of his straights and hooks tend to arc over his own shoulder, leaving openings for his opponent to level change. This could exist exploited by proficient grapplers, just he has also utilized its anticipated nature in it to fix his anaconda choke.

Prediction

Ultimately, at some point, the two will clash every bit very game and aggressive fighters. Perez has a bit more of a broad shot selection, while Pantoja the pure one-punch power. Pantoja tends to eventually fade away from the volume and look to land i or ii heavy shots at a fourth dimension, but because Perez may be slightly more reserved early, Pantoja may be alee on the scorecards early on anyway.

I recollect that both men are confident in their accommodating skills, and we will see some takedown attempts from both sides, but Pantoja is the generally better submission and positional grappler, with Perez having solid wrestling. Pantoja may have a good start but having these grappling exchanges just helps him if Perez's book starts to pitter-patter up on the feet.

Choice: Alexandre Pantoja to win (-180 odds to win at MyBookie)