Mike Perry thinks his success in bare-knuckle fighting can make him a combat sports star.
Mike Perry is heading into a huge BKFC bout coming up this month. He will be taking on former UFC champion Luke Rockhold at BKFC 41. This will be the first bare-knuckle fight for Rockhold, but Perry is not expecting an easy fight. Rockhold is a dangerous striker despite his lack of experience in boxing. Perry knows this and is bringing in another experienced striker to help him get ready.
Perry has fought twice in BKFC so far. His first fight was against Julian Lane which went to a decision in Perry’s favor. His next bout was against Michael “Venom” Page. That bout also went to a decision with Perry being named the winner. Now Perry is preparing for Rockhold and spoke to Morning Kombat about his preparation.
“I’ve been working with Lyoto Machida,” he said. “Lyoto has actually been around the gym and with the MMA guys that I trained with. Even though I’ve really moved on to the boxing gym, I still do go and I train with the MMA guys. I’ve had trouble with southpaws in the past so it just worked out great. I asked him and he was all open to it and he really wanted to help and train and he’s fought Luke before.”
Mike Perry believes his success in BKFC could lead him to become the face of combat sports
Perry left the UFC back in 2021 following a string of losses. He has found success and fame in his pursuit of bare-knuckle boxing. He believes he has become the face of the franchise and rightfully so. He is getting the biggest opportunities of anyone on the roster and he is always being featured in interviews and articles. Perry believes his run in BKFC is so successful that he should be known as the face of combat sports.
“I always fight for pride. It’s been more than about money to me for a long time. But you know the boxing, the bare-knuckle boxing paycheck definitely helps boost my gears. You know what I’m saying? So it puts some fire under my butt. And I run a little faster. I punch a little harder,” he said. “You said face of this franchise, to be honest man with Bare Knuckle boxing, and with me doing what I’m doing, fighting the fights I’m fighting, I believe that I can be the face of combat sports.”
In addition to his run in BKFC, Perry has been looking for big-money boxing matches as well. he has been calling out Jake Paul for some time now without much response. If he can get past the aging Rockhold, perhaps he can get on Paul’s radar and continue his climb toward being known throughout the combat sports world.
BKFC 41 takes place on April 19 live from the 1st Bank Center in Denver, Colorado.