The 30-year-old “Tibetan Eagle” has taken some time to develop after arriving in the UFC towards the tail end of 2018 as a 22-year-old prospect competing in the bantamweight division. He relocated to flyweight and battled injuries and inactivity, which always limit an athlete’s growth, but he has found a home training at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento and logged three appearances in a calendar year in 2025, the first time he’d done so since reaching the UFC.
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Tall and rangy for the division, Sumudaerji has been labeled a low-output fighter by some observers, but Perez sees something different and hopes to draw him into a fight that looks less like his recent wins and more like his memorable Long Island clash with Schnell this weekend.
“He’s a sniper,” said Perez, addressing Sumudaerji’s approach. “He’s not a very high-volume guy, but he’s a sniper. He’s on the money; there is no wasted motion. My pressure, my style gives people problems, but he’s been working with Team Alpha Male, he’s got a lot of guys that fight like me; a lot of guys that can wrestle, a lot of guys that can grapple, and his grappling has gotten better.
“But to be honest, I just want to stand-and-bang with this guy,” he added with an excited laugh. “Don’t get me wrong: if I get a takedown, can get the submission, great, but I’m down to sit there and let’s bang it out; I’m Mexican, so I like to do that.”
