Alejandro Perez hasn’t forgotten about Sean O’Malley’s callout awhile back.
The winner of season one of “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America” remembers quite well O’Malley’s callout back in 2018 when Perez (21-8-1 MMA, 7-3-1 UFC) was coming off a decision win over former WEC champion Eddie Wineland at UFC Fight Night 133.
Now, two years later, Perez wants to revisit that idea and get his hands on “Suga” Sean.
“I like that fight very much because he once called me out and I had just fought Eddie Wineland,” Perez recalled speaking in Spanish with MMA Junkie. “At that time, after the fight against Wineland, I was a bit injured on my foot and after the fight I felt it battered and I needed to rest a bit.
“A week after that, Sean O’Malley asks for me and I was injured. But he asked for me and even threw a date out – Oct. 6. I had just fought in July and I need to recover and that was six weeks away, so it would’ve be rough. And since, you know I’m a fighter and he’s a fighter and that’s a big fight. He’s coming off a loss; I’m coming off a loss. I like that fight.”
Perez was supposed to fight Thomas Almeida in October, but was forced to pull out after he tested positive for COVID-19. Jonathan Martinez ended up replacing Perez and fighting Almeida.
Perez last competed in July 2019 when he lost to Song Yadong at UFC 239. Meanwhile, O’Malley last fought in August at UFC 252, suffering his first professional defeat to Marlon “Chito” Vera.
Now COVID-19 free, the Aguascalientes, Mexico native eyes a return in early 2021 and hopes to meet O’Malley.
“I think January, but if I can get something in February that would be even better because I need time to prepare,” Perez said. “But we need to see how everything plays out. Those dates interest me for sure.”
Perez is training in Mexico at the moment, but pans to go back to American Kickboxing Academy soon to gear up for a fight. The 31-year-old likes the way he matches up with O’Malley, as he sees paths to victory.
“I like the matchup and I see the ways to beat him,” Perez said. “But I have to train for that. I get excited and anxious thinking about the paths I see to beat him. So I just need to train them and plan for them, but I like the matchup.”
Now COVID-free, Alejandro Perez targets Sean O’Malley: ‘He called me out’