UFC Ft. Lauderdale: Expecting Alex Oliveira vs. Mike Perry to be a War? “Cowboy” Doesn’t Disagree

If for someone bizarre reason you don’t have Alex Oliveira versus Mike Perry on your can’t miss list for this weekend, “Cowboy” has outlined why you need to change that right quick.

The welterweights are going to battle at UFC Fort Lauderdale on Saturday night, and due to the aggressive styles of both fighters, it’s a fight that pops out on the card’s line-up. But, as MMA history has told us, sometimes promising match-ups don’t deliver. Case in point, look at how Derrick Lewis – Francis Ngannou played out last July.

Well, recently Oliveira spoke with MMA Fighting. The Brazilian had this to say about how he believes Saturday’s bout with Perry will unfold.

“This guy, Mike Perry — I don’t even know how to say his name. … This guy is aggressive and brings problems,” Oliveira said. “He’s a bit problematic, a trash talker, but he’s in for a fight. As long as he doesn’t talk about my mom, we’re cool.

“…I’m expecting a brawl. That’s what he brings,” Oliveira said. “I’m focused, even if he comes with surprises. We’re two strikers, that’s what we expect from each other, but tactics may change during a fight because we’re fighting MMA. Anything can happen.”

“…I see myself knocking him out. He’s a brawler. Wherever we go, it will be a war. [Dana White] can write the check for the best knockout of the night.”

Now, Perry and his boosters won’t agree with how Oliveira sees the fight ending, of course. But, there’s certainly plenty of reasons to believe this bout could produce either a fight of the night or performance bonus. Perhaps both.

All that said, one component to this fight is that it’s a pivotal one for both Oliveira and Perry, particularly the latter.

Oliveira is coming off a submission loss to Gunnar Nelson, which snapped his two-fight winning streak. Perry, meanwhile, hasn’t fought since he was submitted by Donald Cerrone in November, and he’s dropped three of his last four bouts.

Here is the line-up for UFC Ft. Lauderdale.

UFC Fight Night 150 (ESPN+ 8) Main Card (9 p.m. ET):

185 lbs.: Ronaldo Souza vs. Jack Hermansson
265 lbs.: Greg Hardy vs. Dmitrii Smoliakov
170 lbs.: Alex Oliveira vs. Mike Perry
205 lbs.: Ion Cutelaba vs. Glover Teixeira
135 lbs.: John Lineker vs. Cory Sandhagen
155 lbs.: Thomas Gifford vs. Roosevelt Roberts

UFC Fight Night 150 (ESPN+ 8) ESPN “Prelims” (7 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Takashi Sato vs. Ben Saunders
265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski vs. Augusto Sakai
115 lbs.: Carla Esparza vs. Virna Jandiroba
155 lbs.: Gilbert Burns vs. Mike Davis

UFC Fight Night 150 (ESPN+ 8) ESPN2 ‘Prelims’ (5:30 p.m. ET):

155 lbs.: Jason Gonzalez vs. Jim Miller
115 lbs.: Jodie Esquibel vs. Angela Hill
170 lbs.: Dhiego Lima vs. Court McGee