Muhammad Mokaev vs. Alex Perez Booked for UFC Saudi Arabia on March 2

A flyweight clash pitting Muhammad Mokaev against Alex Perez is on tap for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural visit to Saudi Arabia.

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing on Wednesday following an initial announcement from Perez’s management, Iridium Sports Agency. The UFC Fight Night event is expected to be held at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 2. A headliner for the card has not been announced.

With victories in his first five promotional appearances, the 23-year-old Mokaev is one of the rising stars in the UFC’s flyweight division. In his last outing, “The Punisher” submitted former title challenger Tim Elliott with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their matchup at UFC 294. Mokaev has won four of his five UFC fights by way of submission.

Perez hasn’t competed since suffering a first-round submission defeat against current 125-pound champ Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 277 in July 2022. That was preceded by a title fight loss to Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 255 in November 2020. The Team Oyama product has dealt with numerous bout cancellations — for a multitude of reasons — over the course of the past three years.Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs Shamil Gaziev Joel Alvarez vs Ludovit Klein Vinicius de Oliveira vs Yanis Ghemmouri Javid Basharat vs Aiemann Zahabi Mohammad Yahya vs Brendon Marotte Loik Radzhabov vs Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady Julia Polastri vs Josefine Lindgren Knutsson Tyson Pedro vs Vitor Petrino Steve Erceg vs Matt Schnell Christian Leroy Duncan vs Claudio Ribeiro Umar Nurmagomedov vs Bekzat Almakhan Raul Rosas Jr. vs Ricky Turcios Ludovit Klein vs A.J. Cunningham