Su Mudaerji Takes Unanimous Decision Over Alex Perez in Rematch
Su Mudaerji finally got a winner in the rematch. The Chinese flyweight took a unanimous decision over No. 11 ranked Alex Perez on the UFC Fight Night: Nurmagomedov vs. Song main card, with all three judges scoring it 29-28 at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai.
Mudaerji improved to 20-7 with one no contest and 7-4 in the UFC. Perez fell to 26-11 with one no contest and 8-7 inside the Octagon.
The first meeting never reached a result. Their May 30 bout in Macau was waved off as a no contest at 1:45 of round two after an accidental groin kick from Mudaerji.
Saturday was the makeup, and it stayed close enough that MMA Junkie’s live desk had it tied heading into the third round. Marc Goddard was the referee.
Perez, 34, came in from Lemoore, California, as the ranked veteran and the wrestler. He had stopped Charles Johnson by TKO at UFC 324 in January and needed takedowns to drag a longer southpaw out of kicking range.
Mudaerji, 30, is nicknamed “The Tibetan Eagle” and fights out of Aba, Sichuan. He is 5-foot-8 with a clear reach edge, a 13-knockout career, and a ranked slot at No. 13 entering the night.
The Chinese striker started as advertised. He opened with body kicks, inside leg kicks, and southpaw feints while Perez tried to close distance with right hands and blitzes.
Round two was Perez’s round on several scorecards. 411mania had it 10-9 for the American, and Perez’s 4-for-8 takedown night showed up as repeated single-leg tries and clinch work on the fence.
He could not hold Mudaerji there long enough to steal the fight. Official stats showed Perez with 7:20 of control time on ESPN’s live feed and still only 10 significant strikes landed of 43 attempted.
Mudaerji won the striking by a wide margin. He landed 41 of 80 significant strikes at 51.2 percent and 85 of 126 total strikes, while Perez’s output stayed low whenever the fight stayed on the feet.
The third round decided it. Perez kept shooting and pinning Mudaerji to the cage. The crowd got restless, then Mudaerji hit a reversal, broke into space, and landed a combination before the horn.
Sherdog scored the last round 10-9 Mudaerji and the fight 29-28. MMA Junkie had the same total. All three official cards matched.
A 29-28 sweep is not a statement that jumps Mudaerji into title contention. Champion Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja are already booked for UFC 331 on Sept. 19, and the rest of the top 10 is stacked above both of these men.
It does settle the Macau mess. Perez did not get the wrestling decision he needed, and Mudaerji did not need a finish to leave his home region with the win.
For Perez, the ranking is now in play. A decision loss to a striker he could not hold down is the kind of night that drops a No. 11 flyweight, especially after the no contest already froze his momentum.
For Mudaerji, it is a second straight decision win after beating Jesus Aguilar at UFC 326, plus the Borjas decision last August. He still gets finished by submissions more often than he finishes other people, and that remains the hole in the résumé.
He did not have to wrestle this one. Perez’s takedowns were real. They were not enough.
UFC Fight Night: Nurmagomedov vs. Song continues in Shanghai, with Yan Xiaonan vs. Denise Gomes and Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Song Yadong still ahead. Mudaerji is 7-4 in the UFC with the rematch in his column, and Perez leaves China still looking for a win that sticks.