Conor McGregor wasn’t the original man scheduled to face off with ‘Platinum’ Mikey Perry at BKFC 41.
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship delivered an all-star extravaganza last month, headlined by a bare-knuckle brawl between fan-favorite Mike Perry and former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. Perry scored a second-round TKO after Rockhold threw in the towel, but the real story came from a surprise appearance by ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor.
Stepping into the 1stBank Center for the evening’s featured bouts, McGregor was observed taking in all the action while clutching a bottle of his Proper No. 12 whiskey. Once the main event wrapped up, Mike Perry called out McGregor, prompting the Irishman to step inside the squared circle with a BKFC title belt draped over his shoulder. It was a surreal moment, but according to Chael Sonnen, it was never supposed to happen.
Sonnen was on hand as an analyst for the event and revealed on a recent episode of his Beyond the Fight YouTube series that Perry was actually supposed to call UFC Hall of Fame inductee Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone into the ring for a face-off.
“I was there and I had the run of show. I don’t think this is a secret. Nobody told me not to say anything, but I had the run of show and we were supposed to go off air with ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone doing a face-off with Mike Perry,” Sonnen revealed. “That is what the script said, and by the way, ‘Cowboy’ and his lovely kids and his lovely wife were all there in attendance so I believed it.
“I was then told Conor McGregor was going to show up. Now, Cyrus (Fees) told me this. I’ve got to bring Cyrus along. Cyrus is a mark. Cyrus tells me that, ‘I heard Conor McGregor is coming.’ I said, ‘He’s not. Just so you know, he’s not.'”
We did NOT expect to see Conor McGregor and Mike Perry face off at #BKFC41 😳
🎥 @FiteTV pic.twitter.com/qG3qWaTB6C
— DAZN MMA (@daznmma) May 2, 2023
Conor McGregor Steals ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone’s Spotlight at BKFC 41
Much to Sonnen’s surprise, Conor McGregor entered the building just as Christine Ferea was set to defend her BKFC flyweight title against ‘Rowdy’ Bec Rawlings.
“Oh my goodness, you wouldn’t believe it. Conor McGregor comes walking in. They don’t have chairs for him. Feldman decides he’s going to sit him next to him at the head table,” Sonnen continued. “Commission says no so they scramble some chairs and they put him in the actual audience, but not at the head table. I watched this whole thing happen. Perry was supposed to call for ‘Cowboy’ like the show sheet said. He overlooked ‘Cowboy’ and then went to [McGregor]. [Perry] thought there would be enough time for Conor McGregor to get out of the ring and ‘Cowboy’ to get in the ring.
“They didn’t have enough time. Eventually, they faded to black and threw the credits. ‘Cowboy’ was red hot. I don’t know anything about the 50 million, but McGregor did show up and as far as a night and a piece of entertainment, I felt like we got a real treat there.”
Chael Sonnen says BKFC 41 was supposed to go off air with a Mike Perry/Cowboy Cerrone face-off.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/lXMbTc0TWA
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 10, 2023
