Weight Class: Featherweight
Record: 5-0
Age: 28
Height: 5’9”
Born In: Dominican Republic
Training Out Of: Team Mordan
Combined Opponent Records (at the time they fought): 27-19
Key Wins: Mando Gutierrez
Less than two years into his professional MMA career, Ezequiel Peralta will try to bring his record to 6-0 when he meets Abraham Nava at Budo Sento Championship 33 this week.
A brief three-fight amateur run saw Peralta stop all three opponents he faced with strikes between 2019 and 2021, but it was nearly three years before the Dominican returned to action and won his pro debut via third-round TKO in the summer of 2024. Last year saw “Black Lion” go on a title collection spree of sorts, as he scored three-straight wins via rear naked choke and claimed regional featherweight belts with three different organizations.
The 28-year-old closed out 2025 with a major step up in competition at Legend of Combat 5 against The Ultimate Fighter veteran Mando Gutierrez, and Peralta passed that test with flying colors when he was able to out grapple Gutierrez for large portions of the fight and claim a unanimous decision victory.
Comfortable working out of both stances, Peralta is usually very aggressive on the feet once his fights kick off. While this can definitely result in him getting a bit wild, he really likes to sit down on his strikes and does a good job of stringing his punches together when he’s still fresh and wants to push the pace against an opponent.
“Black Lion” loves throwing rear high kicks from both stances and likes to switch between stances off of his kicking game, which also occasionally includes hard low kicks and stabbing front kicks to both the midsection and head. Peralta will also sometimes mix in some spinning attacks, and as a fight goes on he’ll start to utilize his jab and straight punches more to conserve energy while also throwing in some short elbows when his opposition comes into close range.
The Dominican is very strong in the clinch and utilizes both trips and body lock takedowns from this position to bring his opponents to the canvas. The 28-year-old ideally likes to try and jump straight on his opponent’s back once they’ve hit the mat, but he’s also happy to settle into half guard and land ground and pound while looking for openings to set up an arm triangle choke.
Peralta has shown off some solid takedown defense and also doesn’t concede position when he is taken down, which was on full display in his last outing against Gutierrez. That victory obviously turned some heads, especially given that Peralta had only been fighting as a pro for a little over a year when the two featherweights met in October.
This matchup with Nava is pretty clearly a step down from the Gutierrez fight, but Peralta also apparently already has a bout with fellow undefeated prospect Jonathan Powell booked for LFA 228 in just a couple of weeks. The Dominican’s entertaining fighting style and power on the feet, coupled with a solid ground game, make him an intriguing fighter to keep an eye on over these next two fights.