Bare Knuckle Nation spoke to Mike Perry ahead of his fight on July 20th against Jake Paul.
Mike Perry can never turn the intensity off for very long. As he sits shirtless in his backyard in Florida doing a car wash of media interviews, he oscillates between jovial banter and screaming threats about his next opponent, prospective opponents and past opponents in mere instants, sometimes mid-sentence.
There’s an internal rage that wants to come out, one that fighting seems to satiate just enough to allow him to exist in society.
In an hour, he’ll drink his second shaker bottle of pre-workout for the day and head to an F45 workout class with his wife Latory. You might think that the Perry you see inside the ring is a version that only exists in the squared circle, but it doesn’t need to be a bare knuckle fight or a pay-per-view bout against Jake Paul for the maniacal competitiveness in Perry to come out. As he grabs his kettlebells and lines up beside the weekend warriors, ex-high school jocks and housewives in the group fitness class, the fire in his eyes ignites all the same.
“Dude, I kill those classes. Sometimes I'll fucking do the workout, I push myself to the max. I'll be on the ground gasping for air. I'm trying to push it for sure,” said Perry.
Over the last few years, Perry has brought his brand of chaos to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), signing with the company in 2021. At the time of the signing, Perry’s stock was as low as it could get. He’d lost two in a row in UFC, and seven of his last ten overall. Outside the ring was equally as turbulent and disappointing, after being arrested on assault charges.
Even when Perry is in full braggadocio mode, there is a noticeable self-awareness that seeps in. A recognition of what was lost, and what was miraculously regained—earned, in the ring.
“I didn't get that push from the UFC,” said Perry, before pausing for a moment. “I did, maybe. They tried, and I just wasn't ready for it. This is that push now. I feel like I've had this moment before, and I let it slip. I'm not gonna let it slip this time.”
When Perry first signed with BKFC, it merited just a brief capsule of coverage from ESPN. Close to four years ago, BKFC was not held in the regard it currently is within the fight community. The tenor of the reaction, frankly, was that a faded MMA star was pushing his final chips, what was left of his body, into the the center of the table of the highest stakes game, bare knuckle boxing. A company looking to squeeze the final drops of blood from a recognizable name.
But the 32-year old Perry has put together five straight victories in BKFC, over increasingly impressive names, and in increasingly impressive fashion. After decision wins over Julian Lane and Michael “Venom” Page, Perry has stopped Luke Rockhold, Eddie Alvarez and Thiago Alves in succession. The latest win over Alves bookended the company’s biggest and most consequential show yet, Knucklemania IV, its debut in California, where bare knuckle boxing is now legal.
The rise of BKFC and the rebirth of Perry are not disconnected, in fact, it would be hard to argue that they are not intrinsically linked. During Perry’s tenure, the company has run more shows, made more money and seen more mainstream exposure than ever before. As the company’s public standing has increased, in tandem with his success in the squared circle, Perry has seen his star rise to a level it was never able to hit in the UFC. On the night he headlined in Los Angeles, Conor McGregor officially became part of the company’s ownership group.
“I have the best management in the world. And I can't give them too much credit. They should thank their lucky stars they ever met me,” said Perry. “I told them a long time ago, Platinum was here to put the pain on folks. And I may not always say it the best, but damn it, I perform and I fight like hell. I can take it, and I can give it, and I don't not show up. I always show up, I always get in the ring, I always perform.”
Prior to his win over Alves, Perry was reportedly walking through the hallways of the Peacock Center and pacing back and forth in his locker room “screaming all day,” firing himself up, ebbing and flowing in and out of peak intensity once again. Once he finished Alves off in the first round, he let it all out on the microphone in his post-fight interview.
"For anybody who thinks differently, I'm the king in this bitch. Come and see me, bro, if you want this smoke, if you want the money. I want all the smoke and all the money,” he said.
When Perry was making that proclamation, his ire was mainly aimed at fighters like Darren Till, Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz, MMA stars he hoped to lure over to BKFC for a high-profile clash. At that point, we were a month removed from it being announced that Jake Paul would be fighting Mike Tyson in a mega-event broadcast by Netflix on July 20. Perry had no way of knowing that an ulcer flare-up on a plane would be postponing the Tyson bout the next month, let alone that Paul would still want a fight in the interim.
But when that did become known, Perry and his management went to work, online and behind the scenes. At this point, so many fighters “call out” Paul hoping for the associated payday, promising his true comeuppance, that it’s not even newsworthy anymore. But Perry’s suggestions felt different. For one, no one questioned whether Perry was indeed willing to fight Paul, or any living creature, on just about any amount of notice. But beyond that, he was a true, viable opponent with a substantial amount of buzz behind him.
Paul seemingly agreed. In June, it was made official that he would face Perry on the same date he was scheduled to face Tyson, July 20, at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida live on DAZN pay-per-view.
“A lot of fighters say a lot of things, and a lot of people online say a lot of things. Some guys talk for attention,” said Perry. “Me? I was calling Jake out to create this. To make this happen. I stayed on it, and I meant it. That's the difference between me and the guys that he fought. I planned this and made this whole thing come together. I've been having great training and fights leading up to this, in just boxing. Even though it's bare knuckle, it's just proof that I'm even tougher than a regular boxer. I'll do this shit with no gloves. My fists hold up, my face holds up, and his is not going to. I'm going to break him.”
The fight promotion thus far has been a battle of words and threats between two men with a sense of the ridiculous and a knowledge of what will go viral. The very first promotional “appearance” featuring the two of them was simply two shirtless men, one holding a beach umbrella floating in a pool, shouting barbs at one another. However, there is also a genuine feeling within the fight community that this fight is different from the other Paul matchups against former UFC stars. Perry might not have much gloved boxing experience—just one KO loss back in 2015, and then a retroactively very impressive win over Michael Seals in the Triller Trigon (sorry BYB!)—but he is the face of the biggest bare knuckle boxing organization of the day. Unlike names like Ben Askren or Tyron Woodley, he has recent success in a striking setting.
There’s also the aura that Perry has created about himself, through his tangents and through his performance in the bare knuckle space. Perry has the reputation of an iron-chinned madman, the kind of fighting who can wreak havoc on opponents through sheer will. Perry, then, is the perfect foil for Paul, who still gladly plays the role of the antagonist that fight purists want to see humbled. The rich kid whose lack of heart and dedication to the sport will ultimately be exposed.
The thought of being the one to do it gets Perry so excited that he launches into a tirade that ends with him not talking to the camera, but looking far into the distance, talking to himself as if he were trailing off at the end of a soliloquy.
“I'm fucking ready for this, and all we've got to do is punch. There ain't no kicks, ain't no grappling, I'm gonna put my fists all over Jake's face and body and chest and arms. I'm ready for this man. I'm not Conor McGregor with the words. I wanna be better with my words, but I'm really kind of fucking stupid. I'm just a fighter. I do physical ass stuff. I'm down to get gritty and dirty and fight for it, and never give up,” he says before gazing into his backyard, pivoting his pro wrestling-style promo into pure self-talk. “I'm a relentless warrior man, and I'm not allowed to give up.”
That internal monologue inside Perry seems to mimic the outward dialogue in terms of its intensity. As Perry ended his post-fight interview after beating Alves, he screamed “I’m fucking fighting for every step I take,” so loudly that the sound inside the venue overmodulated. It was as much a proclamation as a reminder to himself of the demons he’s knuckling up against inside. It was a chilling, if not stirring moment of raw emotion rarely seen from fighters in a social media driven world where captions of “hard work, dedication” and finding connection with The Joker character can pass as realism or depth. There are no doubt pieces of the Perry persona that are designed for promotional purposes—he cites The Rock and John Cena in particular as influences—but much more of it is real, sometimes too real.
“I'm fighting against myself. It's a battle against me. I see a little of myself in Jake, I see a little of him in myself. The best fights are you vs. you. me vs. me,” said Perry.
The best fights Perry has had inside a ring of any kind have come in BKFC. The sport of bare knuckle has suited him perfectly. His fighting style and durability have clicked, and in a counterculture, edgy sport, his bold behavior doesn’t scare anyone in a suit overseeing the company. Win or lose against Paul, he’ll return to BKFC where he’ll still be its biggest star, and with at least a decent showing, he’ll lend legitimacy to the sport and company.
Or, he could end up transcending it completely.
“I’ve earned this, to put the gloves on, by being 5-0 as a bare knuckle boxer. I've earned this chance. These other guys have got to put the gloves on and they're not half the boxer I am. I'm gonna show the world how it's supposed to be,” said Perry. “I could possibly end up getting in the ring with Mike Tyson. Who knows? Maybe Mike wants to try bare knuckle against your boy! Maybe bare knuckle against Mike Tyson. I'm trying to stop Jake from fighting Mike Tyson.”
Photo courtesies: BKFC & DAZN
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