10 Questions for Ailin Perez

MMA Masters women’s bantamweight prospect Ailin Perez will take a second crack at her first Ultimate Fighting Championship victory when she faces Hailey Cowan as part of the UFC Fight Night 220 undercard this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The 28-year-old Argentinian was a champion in the Samurai Fight House organization prior to joining the UFC. Perez made her Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 209, where she submitted to a rear-naked choke from Stephanie Egger in the second round of their Sept. 3 pairing.

In this exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Perez touches on her upbringing, details the road she traveled in mixed martial arts and addresses life as a single mother in South America:

Sherdog.com: How did you get your “Fiona” nickname?
Perez: Princess Fiona [from “Shrek”] is a beautiful woman during the day, but at night, she’s an ogre who enjoys training and beating up men. That’s how I am. I’m a princess during the day and an ogre at night. I’m a princess during the weigh-ins, and when I fight, I’m back to being heavy and strong.

Sherdog.com: Where were you born and where do you live now?
Perez: I was born in Hurlingham, in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina. I spent my whole life in Buenos Aires, except for four years I spent with my son in Concordia [in the Entre Rios province]. I currently live in Miami. I come to Miami every time I’m booked for a fight.

Sherdog.com: How did you get into MMA?
Perez: Before I started in amateur MMA, I had my son. He was born in 2017. I started training kung fu, kickboxing and sanda when I was around 12 years old. I added jiu-jitsu by age 19. I trained hard, and I had my professional debut in 2018. I was inspired by Ronda Rousey and then by Valentina Shevchenko. Due to a lack of opponents, I started fighting in other countries. Here I am. I may have a short professional MMA career, but I have a good deal of experience in martial arts.

Sherdog.com: Can you recap your professional career up to now?
Perez: My record is 7-2. I was nervous upon my professional debut in Argentina, but I had a great win. I went on to win and defend a South American MMA title. I fought in Uruguay and Brazil. I had a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, but I kept on training. I had three more fights in Brazil. My best fight was the fifth one [against Alessandra Tainara]. No one wanted to fight her. I won by head kick knockout. After that, I lost my fight to Tamires Vidal. I was very nervous. She was a very tough opponent, and I had a few problems at my academy. I wasn’t too comfortable with my cornermen or strategy. I lost by disqualification due to an illegal knee. After that, I spent time in Argentina with my son. This was followed by two wins by knockout. I then had my UFC debut [against Egger] where I lost by submission in the second round. I certainly learned more from my losses since I could spot my errors. My main lesson is not to get nervous and rush in with strikes but to fight by following a strategy. The other one is to not look at the crowd. It’s too much adrenaline. I felt it when I arrived in the UFC. I won’t make excuses. I lost, and I learned from it. Now, I’m training with the best academy in the United States—MMA Masters—under Daniel Valverde and Cesar Carneiro. We have a great strategy for this next fight. We’ll be looking for a knockout in the first round.

Sherdog.com: What kind of support did you receive in regards to your career choice?
Perez: For moral support, I always talk to my psychiatrist, my father, my son and a girlfriend of mine in Buenos Aires. Financially, I can count on my manager, who helped me travel to other countries to improve my skill set. Without my manager, I would have accomplished nothing.

Sherdog.com: What sort of jobs have you had to work prior to joining the UFC?
Perez: Before my son was born, I wasn’t a professional fighter yet, but I was already training hard. I practiced boxing, jiu-jitsu—everything—and I worked at my academy, teaching, cleaning and working the reception desk. After becoming a professional, my son’s father did help somewhat, but it wasn’t enough, so I had to train, work and be a mother. It was very tough. I separated from my son’s father after the birth. It was a sad moment for me. I considered not being a fighter, as I wasn’t making enough money and I couldn’t train enough hours. Now, my son is 5 years old. I don’t have to work like before since I got into the UFC. I can now give my son the life I want. I train hard to win and to give him a better life and future.

Sherdog.com: What can you say about your opponent?
Perez: When I accept a fight, I immediately envision my victory. That’s the mindset I have during training. The strategy has been put together. We’re just waiting for fight day. We’re adjusting some details and working on my weight loss. I’m very confident in my team, my cornermen and my strategy. I respect my opponent. She’s strong, with good cardio, good experience and wins over great fighters. I had already been following her career. When she won on Dana White’s Contender Series, I knew I’d be fighting her one day. I’m excited to be facing her. I’ll be looking for a knockout.

Sherdog.com: How was your training for this bout?
Perez: I started my camp in Argentina under master Guillermo Teze and my physical conditioning coach Mariano Plotinsky. I also worked with Marcos Jorge Soria, who’s a fellow MMA fighter. After that, in December, I flew to Miami to continue my training with coaches Daniel Valverde and Cesar Carneiro [at MMA Masters]. My strength and conditioning coach there is Jonathan Lopez, who’s from Venezuela. I’m also working with a nutritionist. Among my training partners, I can count on Daniel Chavez, who’s also my no-gi instructor, as well as Claudia Diaz, who’s in Combate Global.

Sherdog.com: What are your plans for the future?
Perez: My main goal is to have my son near me. I can’t live in Argentina since my academy is in Miami. The hardest part is being far away from my son. My prize after each fight is to always to return to Argentina in good health, so I can hug him and tell him how much I miss him. He’s my motivation, focus and inspiration for waking up every day and putting in all this hard work with my training partners. My goal in sports is to be world champion. I was already the South American champion in two promotions. I have great faith in my coaches. They’ll be cornering me for the first time, and I have complete confidence in them. If they say I have to fight Amanda Nunes, I’m mentally ready for that.

Sherdog.com: Do you want to leave fans with any final thoughts?
Perez: Don’t miss my fight. I trained very, very hard. This fight is mine. I’ll be bringing this victory back to MMA Masters and all the Argentinian people.