Danielle Nickerson promised that she had some concerning stories to share about her ex-husband, UFC welterweight Mike Perry. These stories have come out, and are rather disturbing to hear.
Perry and Nickerson had a rather public relationship, at least in terms of the MMA community. They were regularly seen arm-in-arm, or with her in his corner during his UFC fights. Although they broke up, it seemed amicable at first, however Danielle recently suggested that there had been some instances of abuse in their relationship, that she was looking to make public.
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Danielle Nickerson Alleges Mike Perry Broke Her Ribs
It should be noted that before Danielle Nickerson made her full accusations public against Mike Perry, he issued a statement denying any sort of abuse. However a report came out shortly after this, in which the full details of her allegations emerged. Right off the bat though, she wanted to make it clear that her telling her side of the story is not with the intention to have him reprimanded by the UFC.
“This is nothing to hurt him,” Nickerson said. “I know that my words are not going to have an impact on his career.
“This is not (something UFC president Dana White will see) and be like, ‘He’s cut.’ There’s no way. I don’t have that sort of impact. This is not for that,” Nickerson said. “This is for helping others. This is for getting the word out there about what you can do to help people in a domestic violence situation and the warning signs and how to not get this deep into something. Hopefully this will be something that pushes the UFC into doing more checks on their heads and brain damage and really taking care of them physically.”
That being said, Danielle Nickerson goes on to share a variety of situations, seemingly starting after Perry’s first knockout loss, against Geoff Neal. There were times that she said he seemed out of control, often exasperated by alcohol. However there was one time in particular that seemed worse than others.
They were out at a bar after a basketball game, with Mike already being rather intoxicated, when things got heated between he and a female patron at the bar. After they got kicked out, Nickerson tried to smooth things over with Mike, when he was driving recklessly and angrily, before he told her to get out of the car. She said that he came back around and told her to get in again, but when she told him that she was going to drive, he got out of the car, tackled her to the ground while acting like he would hit her, before getting up and speeding off in the car again.
“After that, I was nervous, so I called his friend that we were just with,” Nickerson said. “And I was like, ‘Hey, I don’t know what to do, because he just threw me in someone’s yard, he just ran a red light and is acting absurd more than ever. I don’t know if I can handle him when I get home, and I don’t know what to do, so can you please help me?’”
From there, Danielle alleges that Mike was furious at the sight of his friend with her, walking through the door. She told the friend to leave and went to the bathroom to gather herself. When she got out, she claims that Perry charged at her, tackling her to the ground, before violently assaulting her, breaking her rib.
“He had his knee on my belly and just ground-and-pounded me until he got tired,” Nickerson said. “I did a decent job of covering my face. I still had hematomas on the back of my head. My entire right side from my entire arm, my legs, my ribs, everything was covered in bruises the next few days. He just got all of his anger out on me, and on the last punch I clearly – I think that’s why he stopped, is we heard my rib crack. He knew and sat back, and I think he was just tired – tired of hitting me so much.”
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Mike Perry’s Mom Calls 911
This was not the end of the horrific night for Danielle Nickerson. Fearing for her life, she ran to a neighbor’s house, where she used Facebook Messenger to get ahold of Mike’s mother, who picked her up and took Danielle to her house. Perry apparently followed them there, making threats and revving his engine. Therefore Mike’s mom was left with no choice but to call the police. Audio of this phone call was obtained and you can hear Perry’s mother say that she fears for her life.
Before the police could arrive, he had already left the scene. Because no arrest was made, no formal report was filed on the situation.
Danielle Nickerson Tries Moving On
Now that the two are finally separated, Danielle Nickerson is trying to help other women who have been in similar positions to herself. She is aware that a portion of these issues was not the fault of Mike Perry, and that his anger issues could very well be a product of too much brain trauma.
“If anyone’s ever watched his fights, you know that he gets hit a lot, and it’s entertaining whether he wins or loses, because he just goes forward,” Nickerson said. “That’s a lot on your head and your brain. Obviously he had never been knocked out before that. Once that happened, it was like a light switch changed. And that was scary.”
That being said, nowadays Nickerson has begun working to help others get past situations like the ones that she has found herself in. She has started working with BetterHelp.com, which helps to provide affordable virtual therapy to domestic violence survivors. She also started an Instagram page where she can provide similar services.
“It’s just a safe place for us to talk and have daily affirmations of something positive,” Nickerson said. “I’m constantly sending them things, just positive reinforcement – if they need help, that sort of thing. I’m by no means a professional. I can only speak from the experiences I’ve been through.
“I think it’s nice to have some sort of community, especially when you’re going through something, and you just need somebody to talk to, and maybe you can’t afford therapy, or you don’t want to go, and it’s too much of a commitment. This is something. I just want to help anybody who’s been in my situation or is currently going through it. If I can help one person get away from that, that’s my life’s work. I’m thrilled.”
At the end of the day, and without any sort of criminal charges officially filed against Mike Perry, there is no way to definitively say what is true or not. However even if only half of the picture that Danielle Nickerson paints is accurate, it paints an extremely concerning image of the UFC welterweight. You are encouraged to check out the full interview to completely understand what happened between these two.
