UFC Vegas 23: Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez Fight Preview and Prediction

We learned last week that Darren Till was forced to pull out of the main event against Marvin Vettori due to a broken collarbone. Who else but Kevin Holland has stepped in to replace Till to give us a show on Saturday. The fights will be starting at an earlier time, with Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez opening the main card.

Battle of the Welterweights: Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez

Mike “Platinum” Perry (14-7, 7-7 UFC) returns to the octagon this weekend for the first time since his brawl with Tim Means. The two Americans went to war and Means came out on top with a unanimous decision victory.

It was at 22 years of age when Perry started his professional career. In his first four fights, he knocked out each opponent in the first round. Perry absolutely loves a knockout and before joining the UFC, he knocked out three more opponents to put his record at seven fights, seven knockouts.

Perry joined the UFC in 2016, and his first matchup was set against Hyun Gyu Lim at UFC 202. In the first round of his promotional debut, he knocked down Lim inside two minutes with a beautiful right hook. A minute later, and it was another right hook, another stunning knockdown. Lim somehow survived, but he couldn’t carry on after a third and final knockdown in the first round from Perry.

“Platinum” was proving to be a savage, and he was certainly living up to his hype in the UFC. In his second bout, he reached the third round for the first time in his career, but he ended it there too. Perry is one of those fighters who will just stand there and egg their opponent on to come at them and fight. He did exactly that against Danny Roberts, and Roberts faced the wrath. Perry remained undefeated and earned his ninth knockout in his ninth professional bout.

The welterweight division had a new contender, with Perry strutting his stuff and knocking out people for fun. It certainly seemed that way before he faced Alan Jouban. It was a stunning display from Jouban, knocking down Perry with a heavy right hook. They both caught each with punches on several occasions, but the judges edged towards Jouban, who won the fight on a unanimous decision to take Perry’s undefeated record.

Of course, Perry bounces back with an outrageous knockout. This is what he does, and in his next bout against Jake Ellenberger, he finished the fight with a staggering elbow to knock Ellenberger out COLD. A stunning knee was the answer to his next victory against Alex Reyes. This showed Perry wasn’t there to mess around.

From this point onwards, Perry’s career has hit quite the decline. In his next two bouts, he lost both on a unanimous decision against Santiago Ponzinibbio and Max Griffin. Even after his loss, Perry was still a character in the UFC, and characters get good fights. He was lined up against Paul Felder at UFC 226, and the two men put on a show! A back and forth fight ended in a bloody mess, with Perry being awarded the victory on a unanimous decision.

A win for Perry seen him get another good fight, but he didn’t grasp the opportunity. In the first round against a legend of the game Donald Cerrone, he was submitted with an armbar.

Perry would talk and talk on social media, which gained him several fans in the UFC and this kept him getting these bigger fights. After a Fight of the Night winning performance against Alex Oliveira, he stepped up to face Vicente Luque. This was an absolute slugfest with blood dripping everywhere inside the octagon. Any fighter could’ve earned the victory, but the judges awarded Luque the win, as Perry lost the fifth bout of his career.

Another first-round defeat was handed to Perry in his next fight against Geoff Neal. A stunning head-kick wobbled Perry, which led to Neal hammering him with punches to get the fight over and done with. Perry again bounced back with a win over Mickey Gall, but a usual routine in Perry’s career seen him lose again to Means five months ago.

Daniel “D-Rod” Rodriguez (13-2, 3-1 UFC) will be looking to put on a show on Saturday night, just like Perry. Rodriguez will need to get back to winning ways also, after losing on a unanimous decision to Nicolas Dalby at UFC 255.

Rodriguez started professionally in 2015, after building a perfect 7-0 record in amateur MMA. He fought in King of the Cage in his first fight, and it didn’t last five minutes as he submitted Chris Gates with an armbar.

Four fights and it was four finishes for Rodriguez, pulling off three first-round finishes. His first and only loss outside the UFC came in his fifth professional bout in an extremely close matchup on the feet against Victor Reyna. He lost via a split decision.

Just another fighter who loves to bounce back from defeat and that’s Rodriguez for you. He stayed fighting for Combate Americas and in his next four bouts, he finished them all. It was three knockouts and one rear-naked choke for the American.

Rico Farrington was the next opponent for Rodriguez when he appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019. A unanimous decision victory wasn’t enough for Rodriguez to earn a UFC contract. He then competed in Smash Global, knocking out Quinton McCottrell before UFC President Dana White realised he needed to sign this guy.

At UFC Fight Night Rio Rancho, Rodriguez made his promotional debut against Means. He didn’t half put on a display and out of nowhere won the fight with a standing guillotine choke. Rodriguez was looking lethal in his usual southpaw stance, and as he caught Means, he opted for the standing guillotine, which he performed perfectly for Means to tap.

It was another dominating display from Rodriguez in his next bout against Gabe Green. The left-hook was just too much for Green, with the judges awarding Rodriguez the unanimous victory. A first-round knockout in his third fight in the promotion against Dwight Grant seen him move on to face a tough test in Dalby.

Danish man Dalby handed Rodriguez his first loss in the promotion. It was a unanimous decision victory for Dalby, but the fight was seriously close. A judge scoring the contest 30-27 was absurd, with Rodriguez out-striking his opponent in the fight, but it seemed to be controlled more by Dalby.

Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez: The Breakdown

Firstly, you need to know Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez has all the characteristics to be the fight of the night. We are seeing two guys who put their lives on the line and just go out there throwing punches left, right and center.

Rodriguez may be the taller out of two, but it’s likely we will see similar tactics between both of these guys and that’s just to stand up and fight. We’ve seen both of them finish so many opponents, with 22 finishes between the pair.

Perry has no submissions in his career, and the only time he has been submitted was against Cerrone. Rodriguez has four submissions, but they’ve come at earlier stages of his career, bar the Means fight, which was all standup before it.

So, it’s doubtful we will see this fight go to the ground much, but who knows, with both guys’ knockout artists, they may switch it up to outdo one another. Realistically, it’s going to be an all-out brawl and you’d be a fool to miss this one because it really could get messy.

Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez Prediction

It’s an awful one to predict this fight and there certainly is no favorite between the two. Perry seems more screwed on than ever after his altercations with bar fights and getting into trouble in the past. We could really see a side of Perry we’ve never seen before in the octagon.

This could end in a minute or last the distance, and yes that sounds obvious, but seriously these two are animals and they don’t mess around. Well, it’s more than likely we will see blood pouring in the cage throughout the fight. A little prediction here is that this is going to be the fight of the night, and you heard it here first.

Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez Prediction: Daniel Rodriguez unanimous decision

A classic could be on the cards in the opening fight of Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez. Who do you see winning this one? Let us know in the comments below.

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