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‘Funky’ Ben Askren will be front and center in the combat sports universe tonight when he takes on YouTuber Jake Paul for the biggest payday of his career. Sure, there are legitimate fights happening over on ESPN inside the UFC APEX, but Whittaker vs. Gastelum is expected to draw far less viewers and attention than the circus Triller has on offer.
Mike Perry, Daniel Rodriguez
UFC welterweight Mike Perry scoffed at the boxing advice given by Twitter users after suggesting he wants to improve that part of his game.
Perry lost a lopsided unanimous decision to Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Vegas 23 last week. “Platinum” was jabbed up the entire fight and, although he did score some takedowns, took a ton of damage on the feet and wasn’t able to fire much back in return. With the loss, Perry has now dropped four of his last five fights. While Perry started off his UFC career five years ago knocking everyone out and becoming a fan favorite, he has really struggled as of late. At this point, you have to wonder what’s next for Perry. He likely will get another fight in the UFC due to being a fan favorite, but it would be a must-win fight if it happens.
Perry and Rodriguez collided in the opening bout of today’s main card on ABC.
Perry (14-8 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since suffering a unanimous decision loss to Tim Means back in November of 2020. Prior to that setback, ‘Platinum‘ had earned a unanimous decision victory over Mickey Gall.
Meanwhile, Daniel Rodriguez (14-2 MMA) had entered today’s UFC Vegas 23 fight with Mike Perry in hopes of rebounding from his recent loss to Nicolas Dalby at UFC 255. That defeat had snapped a nine-fight winning streak for the man known as ‘D-Rod’.
Tonight’s UFC Vegas 23 main card welterweight bout proved to be a rather one-sided contest. Daniel Rodriguez was able to dominate Mike Perry in the standup department, battering ‘Platinum’ with a plethora of strikes. Although Perry did get the fight to the ground on two occasions, he couldn’t keep it there and thus ended up being heavily outpointed by Rodriguez.