Ailin Perez notched her fourth consecutive victory on Saturday night when she defeated Darya Zheleznyakova via submission at UFC Fight Night 243.
Perez made Zheleznyakova tap out at the 3:53 mark in the first round.
The win was huge for Perez as she hoped to climb into contention for the UFC bantamweight championship. The title is held by Raquel Pennington, who came into the fight ranked 15th.
What made fans turn their heads in the immediate aftermath was Perez’s celebration. She got up from the hold she had on Zheleznyakova and proceeded to twerk in her face.
“Darya said some very disrespectful things about me before the fight so I had to do it,” Perez said in response to journalist Ariel Helwani’s reaction to the move.
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The 29-year-old Argentine fighter missed weight by a half-pound as she weighed in over the 136-pound bantamweight limit and appeared to have suffered a brutal weight cut on Friday morning. She was forced to forfeit 20% of her purse to Zheleznyakova, according to Yahoo Sports.
Perez moved to 11-2 in her mixed martial arts career. She’s 4-1 since she made her UFC debut in September 2022, when she lost to Stephanie Egger. She hasn’t lost since.
Previously, she’s fought in Samurai Fight House, Natal Fight Championship, Collision Fight Ultimate and Mixed Real World Fighters.
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