After Taste Of Sub-Only Mike Perez Is Hungry For Orchard Rematch

Atos brown belt Mike Perez got his first taste of submission-only action earlier this year, and he’s back for more. 

This time he will face 10th Planet star black belt Nathan Orchard on the main card of Chael Sonnen’s Submission Underground 4, which goes down May 14 in Portland, Oregon.


It’s not the first time the two fighters have faced off. In 2014, they met at the Five Grappling California 1 Open Championship in the men’s expert no-gi welterweight division. Orchard defeated Perez by armbar. 

That was more than three years ago… and Perez says he’s excited for the rematch. 

“That was a long time ago, and a lot has changed,” Perez said.

I was 20 years old at the time, you know, just a green competitor. Now I’m more seasoned. I’ve compete against the best grapplers in the world. It’s a different Mike Perez that he’ll be facing this time.

Mike Perez trains at Atos in San Diego under the watchful eye of coach Andre Galvao.
 
Though Perez doesn’t expect to meet the same Orchard either. Indeed, Orchard is no stranger to submission-only matches, with five EBI events and one Submission Underground under his belt already. 

This will be Perez’s first submission-only match under EBI rules. While he expects a challenging match, he said he’s not going to overthink what Orchard might do when they meet at SUG4.

“I know he’s a savvy grappler and he comes from a good camp,” Perez said. “I’m not going to expect anything… I just have to be ready for everything.”

Video and text by Heather Raftery

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