Mackens Semerzier vs. Robbie Peralta
Featherweights meet again in Australia
After their November fight was overturned to a no contest by the California State Athletic Commission, Mackens Semerzier and Robbie Peralta will rematch to officially settle things.
The two featherweights will square off again as part of the UFC on Fox 2 show in Sydney, Australia, in March. The UFC announced the fight booking late Thursday.
Semerzier and Peralta first met at UFC on Fox 1 on Nov. 12 in Anaheim, Calif. Peralta won the fight by third-round TKO, but it was an accidental clash of his head with Semerzier’s that was the blow that did the most damage, putting Peralta in position to get the win. The CSAC reviewed the fight and last month overturned Peralta’s win to a no contest.
Semerzier (6-3, 1 NC, 1-0, 1 NC UFC) snapped a three-fight losing skid in his UFC debut, a submission win over Alex Caceres last March. But that momentum was halted with the Peralta fight. Before his UFC debut, Semerzier went 1-3 in the WEC. After a major submission upset of Wagnney Fabiano in his WEC debut, Semerzier dropped three straight in the promotion.
Peralta (15-3, 1 NC, 1-0, 1 NC UFC) has not lost in nine fights. He had an eight-fight winning streak before the bout with Semerzier eventually settled as a no contest. He won his UFC debut in September in New Orleans with a unanimous decision victory over Mike Lullo. Peralta also has a Strikeforce win on his resume just before signing with the UFC.
Semerzier and Peralta will likely be part of the preliminary card of UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann, which takes place March 3 at the Allphones Arena (formerly Acer Arena) in Sydney – though the time difference means the broadcast will air Friday night in the United States. The card features a main event welterweight bout between former title challenger Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann, plus the two semifinal bouts of the UFC’s flyweight tournament between Joseph Benavidez and Yasuhiro Urushitani, and Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall.