Muhammad Mokaev vs Alex Perez Prediction: Victory Will be Hard-Fought One

On the evening of March 3rd, UFC Vegas 87 will occur in the United States. On the main card, undefeated Muhammad Mokaev will share the octagon with Alex Perez. The bout will take place in the lightweight division. Mokaev is eighth in the UFC's divisional rankings, while Perez is seventh.

Muhammad Mokaev entered the UFC in 2022 and immediately started discussing his plans to become a champion soon. But it has to be said that he has put his money where his mouth is - he has already won five straight fights in the world's toughest division. In the last bout, Muhammad finished strong Tim Elliott. Mokaev's strength is wrestling; he has submitted more than half of his wins, including his last three.

Alex Perez is a tough American fighter who only loses to the best - in the UFC, he's only been beaten by Joseph Benavidez, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Alexandre Pantoja. He has always been considered a good grappler, but his last two losses made experts think twice - he lost to both Pantoja and Figueredo by submission. It's also interesting to note that Perez's previous four bouts have ended in the first round - two wins and two defeats.

Nothing speaks in Perez's favor except his experience. But it is not enough - Alex is inferior in skills, tonus, and anthropometry, and his long break between fights can also be considered a disadvantage. Mokaev is better than Perez in standing and even more so in wrestling, which is his strong point. We don't see Alex winning, but we do see him defending himself. He won't intentionally mess with the opponent but wait for takedowns and move around a lot, avoiding direct attacks instead. Only defense will allow him to survive to the end of the fight, and that's probably the best he can hope for.