UFC Fight Night 123 results: Alex Perez makes easy work of Carls John de Tomas for tap in second

Alex Perez picked up right where he left off earlier this year when he earned his way into the UFC through “Dana White’s Contender Series.”

Perez (19-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) made easy work of Carls John de Tomas (8-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) with a dominant performance on the ground, ultimately coaxing de Tomas to tap to a D’Arce choke at the 1:54 mark of the second round for his first official UFC victory. And he did it just down the road from his home in Lemoore, Calif.

The bantamweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 123 event at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on FS1.

In the first round, Perez kept de Tomas constantly on the defense when the fight moved to the canvas by working for several submissions. It didn’t come in the first, but the tone was set.

Quickly in the second, Perez took the fight to the canvas and got on top. He leveled de Tomas with a big right elbow, then again worked for a submission. When an armbar wasn’t there, he stayed on the ground-and-pound. Perez leveled de Tomas’ body with a knee, then kept working for the submission. He put himself in position for a D’Arce choke and locked it up with ease. When it was on, he slowly torqued it till de Tomas tapped.

“It feels amazing. I fought just down the street at Tachi Palace for a long time,” Perez told Paul Felder in the cage after the win. “It just feels amazing to finally be here. Words can’t describe it.”

The fight took place at bantamweight, even though Perez is a flyweight. When de Tomas was struggling to make the flyweight limit earlier this week, the California State Athletic Commission moved the bout to 135 pounds. But Perez will move back to 125 after this one, where he’ll look to make an impact in that division.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 123 results include:

• Alex Perez def. Carls John de Tomas via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 2, 1:54
• Frankie Saenz def. Merab Dvalishvili via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Alejandro Perez def. Iuri Alcantara via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Davi Ramos def. Chris Gruetzemacher via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 0:50
• Trevin Giles def. Antonio Braga Neto via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:27

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 123, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Fresno.)