Ailín Luciana Pérez (born 5 October 1994) is an Argentinian professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who currently competes in the women's

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC). As of 6 May 2025, she is #7 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings.

Background

Pérez started in martial arts at the age of 11 in Zárate, with

kung fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

and sanda, and at the age of 20 she decided to move to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

and do some Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ), to get more into MMA. Finally, she turned professional in 2018.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Pérez won the women's bantamweight title of the Brazilian company Samurai Fight House in August 2021 by defeating Alessandra Tainara with a head kick. But she lost it in November 2021 against Tamires Vidal, to whom she applied an illegal knee.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Pérez debuted in the UFC on September 3, 2022. It was scheduled for her to face Zarah Fairn Dos Santos at UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Tuivasa. However, Fairn was withdrawn from the event for unknown reasons and replaced by Stephanie Egger. Pérez lost the fight by rear-naked choke submission in the second round. Pérez faced

Ashlee Evans-Smith Ashlee Evans-Smith (born July 9, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the women's flyweight and bantamweight divisions. She competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She has her own podcast called Sex & Violence w ...

on July 15, 2023, at

UFC Fight Night 224 ''UFC Fight Night: Aspinall vs. Tybura'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 224'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 82'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 22, 2023, at The O2 Arena in Lond ...

. She won the fight by unanimous decision. Pérez faced

Lucie Pudilová Lucie Pudilová (born June 13, 1994) is a Czech female mixed martial artist who competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She was the Gladiator Championship Fighting Bantamweight female champion in Czech R ...

on November 18, 2023, at

UFC Fight Night 232 ''UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Craig'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 232, UFC on ESPN+ 90'' and ''UFC Vegas 82'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 18, 2023, at the UFC Apex ...

. She won the fight by unanimous decision. Despite a prior altercation, Pérez ended up facing Joselyne Edwards on June 1, 2024, at UFC 302. She won the fight once again by unanimous decision. Pérez faced Darya Zheleznyakova on September 28, 2024 at UFC Fight Night 243. At the weigh-ins, Pérez weighed in at 136.5 pounds, half a pound over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. She appeared weak and trembling due to the effects of weight-cutting, despite still missing her target weight. Her appearance made headlines and added concern about the UFC's weight-cutting process. The bout proceeded at catchweight and Perez was fined 20 percent of her purse, which went to her opponent Zheleznyakova. Pérez won the fight via an arm-triangle choke submission in the first round. Pérez faced

Karol Rosa Karol Rosa Cavedo (born December 30, 1994) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. A professional since 2012, she currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of May 6, 2025, she is #10 in t ...

on January 18, 2025, at

UFC 311 ''UFC 311: Makhachev vs. Moicano'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 18, 2025, at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, United States. Background The event marked the prom ...

. She won the fight by unanimous decision.

Controversies

Altercation with Joselyne Edwards

Before

, Pérez and Joselyne Edwards had an altercation at a training session.

Twerking celebration

On September 28, 2024, during the UFC Fight Night 243 event in Paris, Pérez was criticized for celebrating her victory against Darya Zheleznyakova by twerking in her opponent's face after submitting her in the first round. The action was deemed disrespectful by figures such as

Ariel Helwani Ariel Jacob Helwani (born July 8, 1982) is a Canadian-American sports journalist, known for his coverage of mixed martial arts (MMA) and professional wrestling. He is best known for his work at ''MMA Fighting'', but has also worked for Fox and E ...

. Pérez, unapologetically, justified her behavior by claiming that Zhelezniakova had made offensive comments before the fight. The incident also had repercussions in France, where she was reportedly suspended for her actions, something the fighter mentioned on her social media by sharing a screenshot of an article confirming the sanction.

Personal life

Pérez is a single mother and has a -year-old son.

Championships and accomplishments

**Tied (

Jéssica Andrade Jéssica Fernanda da Costa Andrade (born September 25, 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the women's Strawweight and Flyweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is a ...

) for most takedowns landed in a UFC Women's bout (10) (vs.

) *** Most takedowns landed in a UFC Women's Bantamweight bout (10) (vs.

) **Tied (

Miesha Tate Miesha Theresa Tate ( ; born August 18, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is a former UFC Women's Bant ...

Raquel Pennington Raquel Len Pennington (born September 5, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champi ...

) for third longest win streak in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (5) **Third most takedowns landed in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (22) **Second fewest strikes absorbed-per-minute in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (1.83) **Third highest top-position percentage in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (40.0%) **Fifth highest significant strike accuracy in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (55.6%) * Samurai Fight House **Samurai Fight House Bantamweight Champion (Two time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 12–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

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Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Joselyne Edwards , Decision (unanimous) , UFC 302 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Craig , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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, Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Holm vs. Bueno Silva , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–2 , Stephanie Egger , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Tuivasa , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:54 ,

, France , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Stephanie Bragayrac , TKO (corner stoppage) , Samurai Fight House 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Argentina , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Romina Aguirre , TKO (punches) , Samurai Fight House 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:51 ,

, Argentina , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–1 , Tamires Vidal , DQ (illegal knees) , Samurai Fight House 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:00 ,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Alessandra Tainara , KO (head kick) , Samurai Fight House 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:20 ,

Feira de Santana Feira de Santana (; Portuguese language, Portuguese for "Saint Anne's Fair") is a city in Bahia, Brazil. It is the second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 616,272 according to Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Geyse Yasmin , Decision (unanimous) , Natal FC 19 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Fiorella Cardozo , TKO (retirement) , Collision Fight Ultimate 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:02 ,

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Laura Ribeiro , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Collision Fight Ultimate 10 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:45 ,

, Uruguay , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Noemi Galarza , Decision (unanimous) , ULLAMP: Liga Sudamericana 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Argentina , , -

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pérez, Ailín 1994 births Living people Argentine female mixed martial artists Argentine practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Argentine sanshou practitioners Argentine wushu practitioners Bantamweight mixed martial artists Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists utilizing sanshou Mixed martial artists utilizing wushu OnlyFans creators Ultimate Fighting Championship female fighters