Ailin Perez outpoints Norma Dumont in bitter UFC grudge match in Las Vegas
Argentina's Ailin Perez defeated Brazil's Norma Dumont by unanimous decision in the UFC Vegas 121 co-main event, capping a feud marked by condoms thrown at the weigh-ins and mutual insults. The win puts Perez in line for a possible title shot.
Unanimous decision closes grudge match
In the co-main event of UFC Vegas 121 (also billed as UFC Fight Night 289) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday, Sept. 26, Argentina's Ailin Perez defeated Brazil's Norma Dumont by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the bout 29-28. After the result was announced, Perez twerked in Dumont's face, sparking a brief near-scuffle inside the cage.
Bad blood built for weeks
The rivalry had been simmering for some time. According to MMA Fighting, Dumont said Perez "ran away as much as she could" before finally agreeing to the fight. Perez, for her part, publicly needled Dumont's boyfriend, UFC middleweight Marco Tulio, claiming on social media that Dumont had to "distract" him from watching her train. Tulio called Perez's promotional tactics "bad for the sport."
Tensions peaked at Friday's weigh-ins, when Dumont pulled condoms from her shorts and threw them at Perez, then threw money at her — an insinuation about Perez's activities outside the UFC, including an OnlyFans account. After her win, Perez fired back in her post-fight interview, saying Dumont had treated her "like a prostitute," according to ge.globo.
The fight itself fell flat
Despite the buildup, MMA Junkie described the bout as largely uneventful, with few clean strikes landing and cautious clinch work from both fighters. Judges gave Perez the first and third rounds, while Dumont appeared to have the edge in the second thanks to volume low kicks.
Title implications
The win extended Perez's UFC winning streak to seven (her pre-fight record stood at 14-2 overall, 7-1 in the UFC) and she called for a title shot. Dumont, meanwhile, suffered her second straight loss. Sources disagree on which division is next in line for a title shot: MMA Junkie describes it as a women's flyweight title eliminator, while ge.globo refers to the bout as a bantamweight (up to 61.7 kg/135 lb) matchup — the same division in which Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes are set to fight for the vacant belt in November (MMA Fighting cites UFC 324 on Nov. 14).
