Alex Perez is eager to fight Sumudaerji on the feet after a long stretch of limited activity, pointing to his own style and to what he’s seen in Sumudaerji’s “sniper” approach.
He didn’t come up through the UFC like a straight line.
Alex Perez—now 30—arrived toward the tail end of 2018 as a 22-year-old prospect in the bantamweight division. the kind of early-career arrival that usually comes with momentum. Instead, he took time. He relocated to flyweight. then battled injuries and inactivity—two things that can slow a fighter’s development no matter how talented they are.
What changed in recent months wasn’t just training, it was availability. Perez logged three appearances in a calendar year in 2025, the first time he’d done so since reaching the UFC. He’s been finding a home training at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento. and the rhythm it brings is showing up in how he’s thinking about his next fight.
This weekend, Perez is set to face Sumudaerji, a tall, rangy fighter in the division who has been labeled by some observers as a low-output type. Perez doesn’t agree with that framing. To him, Sumudaerji’s style isn’t about doing less—it’s about hitting with precision.
“He’s a sniper,” Perez said, describing how he expects Sumudaerji to operate. “He’s not a very high-volume guy, but he’s a sniper. He’s on the money; there is no wasted motion.”
Perez believes his own approach is what creates problems for fighters. and he’s pointing directly at how those different styles collide. “My pressure, my style gives people problems,” he said. He also connected that clash to what Sumudaerji has been doing at Team Alpha Male’s orbit of training partners.
Perez said Sumudaerji has been working with Team Alpha Male, training alongside a group of fighters who resemble the kind of problems Perez brings—fighters who can wrestle and those who can grapple. He added that Sumudaerji’s grappling has gotten better.
But for Perez, the most important part is what happens when the cage door closes: he doesn’t just want another technical grind.
“But to be honest, I just want to stand-and-bang with this guy,” he said, laughing as he made it clear where his excitement is. “Don’t get me wrong: if I get a takedown, can get the submission, great, but I’m down to sit there and let’s bang it out; I’m Mexican, so I like to do that.”
The tension in Perez’s words is easy to feel. He’s acknowledging Sumudaerji’s precision. he’s admitting the groundwork behind better grappling. and he’s still trying to pull the fight toward the kind of exchange that looks like his memorable Long Island clash with Schnell—an idea Perez wants to see again this weekend.
Alex Perez Sumudaerji UFC Team Alpha Male Sacramento flyweight bantamweight Long Island Schnell 2025 appearances