Dumont targets Perez at UFC Vegas 121 after months of personal rivalry boil over

Norma Dumont has welcomed her scheduled bantamweight bout with Ailin Perez at UFC Vegas 121 on September 26 as an opportunity to settle what she describes as a deeply personal feud — one that has spilled well beyond the cage in recent months.

The top-ranked Brazilian told MMA Fighting that the rivalry carries real emotional weight, claiming Perez “ran away as much as she could” before finally agreeing to meet her at the UFC APEX. “It’s a fight that literally has a personal anger, a personal issue, that the two of us have against each other,” Dumont said. “It’s a fight that we’re going to deliver a lot. I’m excited, I really want it. I think it’s going to be fun.”

Much of the friction stems from Perez’s social media activity directed at Dumont’s boyfriend and fellow UFC fighter Marco Tulio. In a video posted in August, Perez claimed Dumont had to “distract” the UFC middleweight while he watched her train at the UFC Performance Institute. Dumont dismissed the provocation but did not hold back in her assessment of her opponent’s behaviour.

“She’s already secretly filmed me three times,” Dumont said. “She loves doing that. She has mental problems. This girl really has mental problems.” Dumont added that Tulio had already blocked Perez after she repeatedly tagged him in social media posts. “She has this little game of trying to get people worked up. But, honestly, it’s very insignificant.”

With the contract signed, Dumont said she no longer feels the need to engage with the mind games. “Now that the contract is signed, I already have my date to beat her, I have my time to do what I need to do — what I want to do without getting arrested — so it makes absolutely no difference to me what she does outside of the fight.”

Tulio echoed his partner’s frustration, telling MMA Fighting that Perez’s promotional approach is “bad for the sport.” He noted that even people within Perez’s own camp had questioned her behaviour. “I only saw the comments, even people from her own side were saying, ‘Man, she’s tripping, there’s no reason to do this. He’s not even looking at you,’” Tulio said. “But I think she’s begging for attention.”

Dumont vs. Perez is scheduled for the preliminary card of UFC Vegas 121, with Dumont representing Chute Boxe out of São Paulo.