Ailin Perez captured the attention of fans by twerking after her UFC Paris weigh-in, but the Argentine's fun was cut short as she was choked out by Stephanie Egger.
Perez, 27, was making her UFC debut at the event having been signed to the promotion earlier this year. She had formerly competed for Argentinian promotion Samurai Fight House where she held the bantamweight title. Perez raised eyebrows when she twerked after her official and ceremonial weigh-in, with the UFC cutting the moment out of their broadcasts.
Sadly for the Argentine, she didn't get the chance to twerk after her fight with Egger as she was choked out in the second round. Perez did have some good moments in the opening stanza, catching the talented judoka with some hard punches. But she bizarrely attempted to grapple with Egger which led to her tapping out to a rear-naked choke
UFC fans have since reacted to Perez's debut, and twerking antics, with one writing: "Pretty woeful debut from Ailin Perez. Low fight IQ throughout. Egger by submission comes as no surprise." Another wrote: "Ailin Perez needed to worry less about being "in front of the cameras" and more on fighting intelligently.
"Egger said 'oh hell no you're not doing a celebratory twerk on me Perez' and earned that win with an RNC," another wrote, with a fourth user commenting: "Rain check on that UFC celebration twerk from Ailin Perez". A final user slammed Perez's performance, putting: "Ailin Perez was literally only there to try to show her mediocre a** off, sad and pathetic."
Perez shut down her critics by insisting that twerking is in her blood. “I enjoy it and that’s the way I express my happiness," she told MMA Junkie. "Apart from being a fighter, I was also a dancer. I danced reggaeton, salsa, and bachata, so that’s in my blood. Many people say, ‘If you know how to dance, you know how to fight.’"
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"I enjoy it, and that’s a way I express my happiness. I have the assassin side of me, and my happy part. That’s how ‘Fiona’ is. Princess Fiona is an ogre who dances, who’s very sweet, but when it comes time to fight, she’s firm and moves forward. That’s why they call me that.”
Egger insisted she didn't pay any attention to Perez's twerking antics, stating: "I learn respect for my opponents. If she wants to twerk she can twerk, but when we're in the cage it's all about fighting not twerking. I don't like to talk much, so I prefer to just go in the cage and fight."
