An intense grudge fight on the UFC 302 undercard had to be temporarily stopped as one bantamweight headbutted her opponent on the ground.
Fan favourite Ailin Perez took on long-time rival Joselyne Edwards in the second bout of the night as the prelim card for Islam Makhachev vs Dustin Poirier kicked off in Newark. And things got heated quick as the pair finally settled their feud.
The pair had been going back-and-forth since an altercation at the UFC Performance Insitute in November. Perez was left with a black eye during fight week for her last outing against Lucie Pudilova after the pair scrapped backstage over a disagreement following one of Edwards’ fights.
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Ailin Perez and Joselyne Edwards feud dates back to November backstage brawl
Perez and Edwards fought in the cage at UFC 302, but their first bout took place in Las Vegas behind the scenes during the Argentinian’s last fight week. The pair’s reports on what happened differ, but they have both admitted to being involved in an altercation that left Perez marked around her eye.
“What I did was I stated my opinion online about [a previous Edwards fight],” Perez explained following her win over Pudilova in November. “I didn’t disrespect anyone; I didn’t talk about about anyone.
“But this irrelevant lady came up to me after I was opinionated about one of her fights, just talking about the performance that she did. And she came to assault me. She did assault me with the intention to make me pull out of my fight.
“But I’m sorry, she did not achieve it. I won and fought regardless of the assault that took place.”
Edwards gave her own account of the incident, claiming that Perez’s coach who she claimed had been trying to break up the scrap had actually turned it into a two-on-one situation. The Panamanian gave her own statement to MMAMania which stated that she was choked by the unnamed coach.
Ailin Perez and Joselyne Edwards fight temporarily stopped after headbutt
After such an intense and lengthy build-up, there was clear bad blood between the pair as they stepped into the cage. The usually bubbly Perez found herself in an intense face-off at their ceremonial weigh-in, and that intensity maintained through to fight night.
The Argentinian had a strong first round, but found herself on her back midway through the second. However, the bout had to be briefly stopped when Edwards tee’d up and launched an illegal headbutt, which the commentary team felt was deliberate.
“That was a headbutt,” said renowned commentator Joe Rogan, who also added that the manoeuvre “looked very deliberate”. Daniel Cormier then concurred, before Rogan reiterated that the move was “so deliberate”.
When referee Gasper Oliver simply told Edwards to “watch the head,” Rogan expressed his bemusement before again claiming that she meant it. “Interesting, they didn’t even take a point,” he continued. “I mean there’s no other thing that could have been happening from that movement.”
Ailin Perez defeats Joselyne Edwards by Unanimous Decision as pair squash feud
Perez quickly got back into the fight and almost immediately afterwards landed a spinning backfist that dropped her opponent. However, she was unable to capitalise as the fight moved on into the third round.
Eventually, Perez managed to do enough to win by unanimous decision, at which point she engaged in her customary ‘twerking’ celebration. She had done the dance move after her weigh-in on Friday night even after an intense face-off, and continued the tradition in the cage.
But the key moment after the fact was when Perez and Edwards embraced after putting in a 15 minute battle together. The commentary team on the night had theorised that perhaps the bantamweight duo wouldn’t shake hands after the fact, but they appeared cordial after settling their feud.
However, Perez almost pushed her luck too far as she asked Edwards to join her in her dancing celebration. That didn’t quite pass, but they appeared to put their lengthy rivalry behind them following a tough three rounds.