Cristian Perez earns second Contender Series chance against Paxton

Cristian Perez has been given another opportunity to earn a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, where he will face Logan Paxton. The return follows his defeat by Manoel Sousa in his first appearance on the show.

Perez controlled much of the opening two rounds against Sousa through wrestling and grappling. The effort took its toll in the final round, allowing Sousa to recover and stop him with a late TKO. Sousa received a UFC contract for the victory.

Sousa has since won both of his UFC fights. He stopped Bolaji Oki in the third round on his promotional debut and collected a $100,000 performance bonus. He then defeated Richie Miranda by unanimous decision on August 8, taking his UFC record to 2-0.

Perez has fought once since his Contender Series loss. In April, he met Gilberto Santos in the main event of Elite Xtreme Fighting 23, and the contest ended with Perez being finished on the ground by strikes from a back-mount position. Another scheduled bout was cancelled.

The result against Santos was enough to earn Perez another invitation. Before his first Contender Series appearance, he had built a 10-1 record with Combate Global, including a 3-0 mark under the promotion’s former Combate Americas name. His only loss during that period came against Enrique Gonzalez by unanimous decision in a Combat Global lightweight tournament final. Perez also fought for Karate Combat in 2024.

Paxton enters the contest with a 10-1 professional record. He has gone the distance only twice, including in his sole defeat, which came against JaCobi Jones in his second professional fight. The Contender Series places fighters in direct competition for a limited number of UFC contracts, making Perez’s second chance dependent on his performance against Paxton.