Alex Perez Says He “Messed Up” Failing to Make Weight at UFC on FOX 28

Alex Perez spoke after his win over Eric Shelton at UFC on FOX 28 about failing to make weight and more. Highlights are below, per MMAjunkie:

On his troubles making weight: “Just that first day kind of messed me up. We got stuck at the airport, couldn’t work out for a whole day. We lost a whole day at the airport. Literally, we were there at 8 a.m. in the morning, and they didn’t leave until about 11:59. That’s taking off on the flight, and then we’re three hours behind. So we came over here, it was 7 in the morning, so I lost sleep. Then having to come here and starting to get my weight down. Came in heavier than I thought I was going to be.”

On coming in heavier in his second attempt: “It was crazy. They said I was 126.5, so OK, I’m going to try to get this last pound off. Went to the bath. My coaches and my teams were in there with me. I didn’t drink anything, nothing. Came back, and I was heavier. I was like, ‘What the heck?’ I’m not sure if it was the scale, anything. No excuses. It was on me. I take full responsibility. It wasn’t nothing to do with the scale, it was just myself. I messed up, and it won’t happen again.”

On his next fight: “I think someone took it wrong when I said I wanted to fight Matt Schnell, Eric Shelton, people think I’m trying to call them out because I think I’m better. Actually I think those guys are probably top-15 guys. They’re actually tough guys I want to fight. It’s not because I think they’re crappy, or I think they suck or anything like that. If I call you out, it’s not from disrespect. I want to challenge myself. If I wanted easy fights, I never should have gone to the UFC.”