UFC women’s bantamweight contender Ailín Pérez insists she was well within her rights to celebrate in the way she did this past weekend.
The Argentine fighter featured on the preliminary portion of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card in Paris, France. She was hoping to extend her winning run to five at the expense of Darya Zheleznyakova.
Pérez did just that, once again showing her grappling superiority. This time, however, she didn’t require the scorecards, forcing a tap from her Russian opponent with an arm-triangle choke inside the first round.
Rather than the performance, though, the main talking point seemingly came in the aftermath, which saw “Fiona” celebrate by twerking in the face of her opponent moments after the submission.
Pérez Rejects ‘Disrespectful’ Claims After Twerking In Defeated Opponent’s Face
Pérez’s celebration split opinion in the community, with some branding it a disrespectful move on the part of the Buenos Aires native.
But the Argentine was quick to dismiss that notion, instead claiming to have been subjected to disrespect from her opponent pre-fight.
“My friend @arielhelwani, Darya said some very disrespectful things about me before the fight so I had to do it,” Pérez wrote. “I would love to tell you more about it on your NEW show #AilinNurmagomedov“
And that wasn’t the only post-fight tweet that saw a Nurmagomedov theme.
In another, the victorious Argentine claimed to have “Khabib’d the Russian” inside the Octagon at Accor Arena.
“I Khabib’d the Russian and then twerken on her #UFCParis#AilinNurmagomedov“
Plenty of Pérez’s other posts saw her targeting flyweight contender Tracy Cortez, who got her own back following “Fiona’s” weight miss after previously being branded unprofessional by the Argentine for needing to cut her hair off to make the limit.
It remains to be seen what will come next for Pérez, but she certainly has her sights set high.
Prior to missing weight, the rising bantamweight suggested she’d call for UFC CEO Dana White to place her in a main event for the first time following the Paris card, preferably against Kayla Harrison.
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