A bantamweight bout between Francisco Rivera (11-7 MMA) and Erik Perez (16-6 MMA) took place on tonight’s UFC 201 main card in Atlanta.

Round one begins and Perez misses with a front kick. Rivera lands a nice left hand. Perez throws a leg kick but eats another solid right hand from Rivera. Francisco with a nice combination. Perez lands a jab and then a body kick. Both fighters lands stiff shots. Perez lands a leg kick. Rivera fires back with one of his own. Both fighters trade kicks to the body. Perez catches a Rivera body kick and lands two nice shots inside. Both fighters stand in the pocket and trade shots. Perez ducks under and lands a takedown. Rivera immediately pops back up to his feet. Perez presses him against the fence. A nice knee lands for Erik. The fighters break. Perez lands a leaping knee to the body of Rivera. Francisco lands a nice counter left hook. Perez throws a superman punch to end round one.

Round two begins and Perez lands a leg kick. Francisco presses forward and lands a kick. He throws a combo and a right hand lands on Perez. Erik is using a lot of head movement. Rivera connects with a right hand. Perez throws a spinning back fist. These bantamweights are happy to stand a trade. Big combinations from both men. Perez eventually shoots in and lands a takedown. He begins working some solid shots from the top as round two comes to an end.

Round three begins and both men come out swinging. They have thrown caution to the wind. Huge shots by both fighters. Perez finally shoots in for a takedown after a wild opening minute. He begins working some shots from top position. Some nice short elbows from Perez. Francisco is exhausted here. He wants the referee to stand them up. Perez is working from half guard. 90 seconds remain in the final round. More short shots score for Perez. He continues to batter Rivera. Francisco finally gets back up to his feet. Both men swing wild punches until the final horn.

Perez defeats Rivera via decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-28)