Ariel Helwani wasn’t a fan of Ailin Perez’s viral post-fight celebration at UFC Paris.
On Saturday, ‘Fiona’ returned to the Octagon for a scrap with Russian standout Darya Zheleznyakova in The City of Light. Despite looking like she was near death while stepping on the scale 36 hours earlier, Perez didn’t miss a beat when it was time to take care of business. Dragging ‘The Iron Lady’ down to the mat, Perez secured a submission victory via arm triangle in the opening round.
While her performance was impressive, it was her post-fight antics that had everyone talking. Immediately after the tap-out, Perez popped up and twerked right in her opponent’s face.
The disrespectful showing was lambasted by pundits, including MMA journalist Ariel Helwani who voiced his disapproval while sharing a clip of the incident on X.
‘The level of disrespect,” Helwani wrote. “My word.”
Ailin Perez responds to Ariel Helwani
Getting wind of Helwani’s comments, Perez responded on social media and suggested that her actions were in response to some trash-talk Zheleznyakova had thrown her way ahead of their fight.
“My friend Ariel Helwani, Darya said some very disrespectful things about me before the fight so I had to do it,” Perez replied. “I would love to tell you more about it on your new show.”
With the win, Perez moved to 4-1 inside the Octagon and is sitting on a four-fight win streak after coming up short in her promotional debut in 2022.
