WATCH: Markus Perez Arrives as ‘The Joker’ at UFC on Fight Island 5 Weigh-Ins

UFC fighters often bring out some of their antics at the faceoff and the ceremonial weigh-ins. Middleweight Markus Perez did the same and arrived at UFC on Fight Island 5 weigh-ins with his face painted as ‘The Joker’.

Perez will face Dricus Du Plessis on the main card of this weekend’s UFC action. After making weight, the two were set to square off at the faceoffs. Perez stepped on the stage and just like his weigh-ins last year, he was painted up as ‘The Joker’. The Brazilian also played the part of the character that Heath Ledger immortalized more than a decade ago.

Perez is a veteran who hasn’t had the best of runs after coming over to the UFC. Prior to signing with the UFC, he was 10-0 in his career. However, he has had a run of 2-3 in his five UFC appearances. His most notable win came over the currently 15th ranked middleweight Ian Heinisch.

Markus Perez will look to recover from the loss in his last outing

This will be Perez’s first outing of 2020. He last stepped inside the Octagon in November in Sau Paulo. It was there that he became a crowd favorite after coming in as ‘The Joker’ during the ceremonial weigh-ins. However, while it was all smiles during the ceremonial weigh-ins for Perez, the fight didn’t end up what he would’ve expected.

In an entertaining affair, Wellington Turman defeated Perez via unanimous decision to register his first UFC win. Turman also advised Perez to take up a character that actually wins.

The Brazilian’s opponent for this weekend is a UFC debutant who has never needed to go to the judges’ scorecard to register a win. However, he is stepping on short-notice so it’d be interesting to see if he is actually a hundred percent ready for the fight.

Perez is a jack of all trades. He averages 1.08 takedowns per 15 minutes, but with a takedown accuracy of only 26 percent. Even in the striking department, his opponents have outstruck him. If he wants to come out on top, he will have to put in his experience of fighting against quality competition. However, doing so won’t be easy against a young and athletic Du Plessis.