Mike Perry responds to Conor McGregor welcoming him back to BKFC

Mike Perry is not entirely surprised to see Conor McGregor change his tune on fighting in BKFC.

[autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] is not entirely surprised to see [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] change his tune on fighting in BKFC.

After Perry suffered a sixth-round TKO loss to Jake Paul in their boxing match last July, McGregor, who is a minority owner in BKFC, went off on “Platinum” and fired him.

Perry, who is widely considered BKFC’s biggest star, captured the “King of Violence” title by stopping Eddie Alvarez by TKO. In his most recent outing for the promotion last April, he finished another UFC veteran in Thiago Alves in the first round. McGregor was asked about Perry in a recent BKFC press conference and welcomed him back to the promotion.

“He should come home. Mike should come home,” McGregor said during the BKFC 70 post-fight press conference (h/t The MacLife). “He still shows love to the game, and we’ll always have love for Mike Perry for sure. And yeah, me and Mike would be a great fight for sure.”

Perry reacted to the news and indicated that BKFC were planning on having him back anyway.

“I mean, all respect to Conor for everything he’s done, and he promotes quite well,” Perry said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “He was just at the White House. … Maybe he’s trying to make it sound because BKFC is working, so it’s like they’ve been working. He tried to say, ‘Oh, you’re fired’ and then you haven’t seen me back. Now he’s saying, ‘Come home,’ and now you’re probably about to see me get a deal with them again. My deal’s always been on the table. My contract, I still have three fights left that I would like to fight.

“I would like to fight those fights. Like I said, it has to make sense. The company’s been working with other big companies. They had to speak with other companies in order to get the things they want done.  He said that because maybe now you’re about to see me come back, and then it kind of looks like he is leading the way over there. Everyone says it, the fans are saying it. You’re not seeing it the way that you do when ‘Platinum’ steps in there.”

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Jon Jones signs with Dirty Boxing Championship as upstart promotion’s co-owner

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is now co-owner of Mike Perry’s striking fight promotion Dirty Boxing Championship.

[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] is now co-owner of Dirty Boxing Championship.

The UFC heavyweight champion has signed a deal to co-own the striking fight promotion founded by BKFC star and former UFC fighter [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] and his managers, Malki and Abe Kawa, who also are part of Jones’ longtime management team.

MMA Junkie confirmed the news Friday following an initial report by TMZ.

Dirty Boxing Championship had a pilot event in November with former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero headlining the card.

The promotion returns Saturday with its first official event, DBX1,  at The Hangar in Miami. Romero, along with former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski, are in the main and co-main events, respectively. Jones is expected to be present at the event.

Jones, 37, has not been announced for his next UFC title defense, which is expected to be a title unification bout with interim champion Tom Aspinall. He fought in November and defended the heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHW6Pc8tasB/

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Spinning Back Clique LIVE (noon ET): Fighter of the Year awards review, 2025 MMA predictions, interview with Eddie Alvarez

On “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel discusses our Fighter of the Year awards, 2025 MMA predictions, plus we interview Eddie Alvarez.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Dan Tom, Matt Wells, Mike Bohn will join host Danny Segura live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics:

  • We chat with former UFC and Bellator champion [autotag]Eddie Alvarez[/autotag], who returns to the ring on Jan. 25 to headline BKFC Knucklemania 5 against fellow veteran Jeremy Stephens. We discuss his return fight and career, along with some of the recent things happening in MMA.
  • Last week, we announced the winners of MMA Junkie’s 2024 Male and Female Fighter of the Year. We reflect on the winners’ years, who were UFC champion [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] and PFL’s [autotag]Dakota Ditcheva[/autotag], and discuss what could be in store for them in 2025.
  • Keeping the 2025 theme. The panel gives their bold predictions and wishes for MMA in 2025. We also discuss each chance of the current UFC champions being able to hold onto their belt till the end of the year.
  • Lastly, to end the show, we go over some of the recent headlines in MMA, including [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] returning to the UFC’s testing pool in hopes to make a comeback from retirement, [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag]’s callout of [autotag]Robbie Lawler[/autotag] for BKFC fight, [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag]’s comments on a potential move to light heavyweight, and much more.

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Mike Perry calls out retired ex-UFC champion Robbie Lawler for BKFC fight

Mike Perry called out UFC legend Robbie Lawler, who was just feet away from him at Saturday’s BKFC Hollywood.

[autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] is already name hunting for opponents for 2025.

The former UFC fighter and BKFC’s “King of Violence” champion took matchmaking into his own hands and called out former UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Robbie Lawler[/autotag] to a bareknuckle boxing fight. Perry did so by hopping in the ring, getting on the microphone, and calling out Lawler, who was sitting ringside at Saturday’s Bareknuckle Hollywood event in South Florida.

“Who should face me next? I see Robbie Lawler in the crowd and I think he should take the gloves off, and he should step inside the squared circle against ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry,” Perry said.

Lawler, 42, retired from fighting in July 2023 after stopping Niko Price at UFC 290. “Ruthless” is one of the more established names at 170 pounds of the last decade. He held the UFC welterweight title from 2014 to 2016. Lawler has defeated many notable names in MMA, including Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Rory MacDonald, Donald Cerrone and Josh Koscheck.

Perry, 33, has risen in fame since his UFC departure in 2021. He’s undefeated as a bareknuckle boxer under BKFC, with a record of 5-0. In his most recent outing, back in July, Perry suffered a TKO defeat to YouTuber turned fighter Jake Paul in the boxing ring.

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Mike Perry duets with Yoel Romero, $25K Roshambo and Jon Jones: Dirty Boxing Championship behind the scenes

From Mike Perry singing with Yoel Romero to Jon Jones overseeing $25,000 Roshambo bets, a lot was going on between knockouts in Florida.

[autotag]Jon Jone[/autotag]s, [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] and [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] walk into a bar…

OK, so they didn’t walk into a bar, but while you’re imagining the wild scenarios that hypothetical situation would produce, those three unique personalities popularized in MMA were all present for the inaugural Dirty Boxing Championship at an “undisclosed location” in Florida.

Perry’s new fight promotion brings a unique set of boxing rules that allows for MMA elements such as ground-and-pound and elbows. The fights produced a number of wild finishes, including Romero’s devastating knockout in the main event.

Perhaps more interesting than what happened inside the custom Dirty Boxing Championship ring, is what went down behind the scenes. The private event’s guest list featured a number of familiar faces, including UFC heavyweight champ Jones, Paige VanZant, and many others.

In a behind-the-scenes video of the event, Perry was seen singing Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” with Romero, Jones oversaw a $25,000 Roshambo battle, and of course, video of the knockouts inside the ring along with the aftermath of the winning and losing sides.

Check out the video above.

Video: Yoel Romero scores violent knockout at Mike Perry’s Dirty Boxing Championship inaugural event

Yoel Romero is still dangerous at 47 years old, and he showed it with a violent knockout at Mike Perry’s Dirty Boxing Championship event.

[autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] still is dangerous at 47, and he showed it in the main event of [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag]’s Dirty Boxing Championship event on Saturday.

After former UFC fighter and BKFC star Perry unveiled plans for his own promotion earlier this year, Dirty Boxing Championship put on its inaugural card Friday with a private event in Miami that was barely promoted and did not stream online.

The likes of UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, Power Slap’s Paige VanZant and more were ringside for the eight-fight card, which features a ruleset that allows punches and elbows from the clinch, as well as strikes on a downed opponent.

Former UFC and Bellator title challenger Romero headlined, and he quickly dismantled an overmatched Duane Crespo, who folded after a huge punch early in the opening round of the heavyweight contest.

It was Romero’s first combat sports bout since he defeated Thiago Santos at a PFL event in February, and he’s disappeared from the scene in recent months. He re-emerged looking in ridiculous shape for the bout with Crespo, and proved he still packs a heck of a punch with the highlight-reel knockout.

“I told everyone this was going to be something special and goddamn I was not wrong,” Perry said of the event in a press release. “I knew these rules would make for crazy fights. Every single one of them was a banger. Things got dirty in there for real. We’ve worked super hard on this for a long time now and I couldn’t be happier with how this event turned out. I am 100 percent positive now that fight fans are going to love this.”

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Check out complete results from Dirty Boxing Championship below:

  • Yoel Romero def. Duane Crespo via knockout – Round 1
  • Solomon Renfro def. Jeremiah Truhlar via unanimous decision
  • Rob Perez def. Fabio Cherant via knockout – Round 1
  • Maike Linhares def. Eddie Perez Bruno via unanimous decision
  • Anvar Boynazarov def. Thiago Belo via knockout – Round 2
  • Corey Jackson def. Chris Burton via knockout – Round 2
  • Claudia Zamora def. Monica Medina via knockout – Round 1
  • Guilherme Bastos def. Tyler Scott via decision

Mike Perry says he wasn’t drug tested vs. Jake Paul: ‘I was surprised’

Mike Perry claims there was no drug testing for his boxing match vs. Jake Paul.

[autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] claims there was no drug testing for his boxing match vs. [autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag].

Perry (0-2) wound up being stopped by Paul (10-1) in a Round 6 TKO loss in their cruiserweight boxing match July at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

Paul’s next assignment comes against 58-year-old boxing legend Mike Tyson (50-6-2) Friday at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, and Perry wonders if the pair will be drug tested for their fight.

“When I fought Jake, I was undefeated, 6-0 as far as the last three years,” Perry said in an interview with Tim Welch. “Then I fought Jake, it was the first time I hadn’t been drug tested. They tested me for all my fights except for the Jake Paul fight. No excuses.

“I spar and train with people that are on the juice, but they didn’t test me at a fight of that magnitude against a fighter as important as Jake Paul is to the system they’ve got set up and going. So I was surprised to not get tested. If he’s on some sh*t, it’s so good, they can’t test for it anyways.”

Perry admits he’s concerned over how Tyson will fare considering that he’s almost 60, but thinks the elevated stakes could light a fire under him.

“I’ve seen some things that Mike Tyson has been saying on video, and he seems really sharp mentally,” Perry said. “Seems like Mike Tyson hasn’t skipped a beat, and getting back in the ring and fighting. I always think about the Evander Holyfield vs. Vitor Belfort. We saw what happened there, Vitor just destroyed Holyfield.

“It was unfortunate, he really looked his age in there, but Mike Tyson looks really good on the mitts, and they’re only doing 2-minute rounds which is interesting. And  Jake said something about $5 million if Mike can last five rounds with him or he gets an ‘I love Jake Paul’ tattoo. I thought that was interesting, and I hadn’t heard a rebuttal from Mike Tyson.”

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Mike Perry issues statement, apologizes to police following DUI arrest: ‘I sincerely regret my actions’

Mike Perry apologized to Clermont Police Department for his actions and choice of language during his DUI arrest.

UFC veteran and BKFC fighter [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] has issued an apology following a DUI arrest in Florida.

On Oct. 12, Perry was arrested by Clermont Police Department in Clermont, Fla. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and refusing to sign a citation requiring a court appearance. During the interaction with police, Perry was verbally aggressive, as he used homophobic slurs when addressing officers.

“They know exactly who I am,” Perry said during the traffic stop, captured on police bodycam footage. “They’re f*cking mad. F*ck these f*ggots! Couple of f*ggots! They’re a couple of f*ggots, forget about it!”

Wednesday, Perry issued his first statement since the incident. In the words posted to X, Perry expressed regret for his actions and apologized to the police department. He also vowed to “ensure this type of behavior never happens again.”

Read Perry’s full statement below (via X):

I am writing this to express my deepest apologies for the inappropriate and disrespectful language I used towards members of the Clermont police department. I understand that my words were hurtful and offensive, and I sincerely regret my actions.

I recognize the important and often difficult work that law enforcement officers do to keep our community safe, and I truly respect the dedication and sacrifice that comes with the job. My behavior was inexcusable, and I take full responsibility for my actions.

Please know that this incident does not reflect how I truly feel about the [Police Department/Officers], and I will make every effort to ensure this type of behavior never happens again. I hope you can accept my apology as sincere, and I will be more mindful and respectful in the future.
Thank you for your time and consideration.

Perry, 33, is to appear in court on Oct. 30.

“Platinum” Perry has been dubbed BKFC’s “King of Violence” after defeating Eddie Alvarez last December. He then defeated fellow UFC veteran Thiago Alves in April, which led to a traditional gloved boxing match against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in July. Perry lost that fight by stoppage in Round 6.

Perry does not currently have a fight scheduled.

Bodycam video shows Mike Perry hostile toward police, using homophobic slurs during DUI arrest

Police bodycam video shows what happened in the early morning hours of Oct. 12 when Mike Perry was arrested for DUI.

Police bodycam footage shows UFC veteran and BKFC star [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] was hostile toward police and hurled homophobic slurs at them while he was arrested following a traffic stop in Florida.

The footage, obtained by TMZ and shared Wednesday, shows what happened in the early hours of Oct. 12 when Perry was pulled over for speeding by two officers from the Clermont Police Department at approximately 1 a.m. In the video, Perry immediately talks back to one officer as he tells Perry he can smell alcohol from the vehicle.

“Well, you’re talking a little slow, and I can smell it coming out of this side when I came over here,” the officer says.

Perry responds, “Well, you’re talking a little fast.”

“I’m talking a little fast?” the officer replies. “OK, I’ll slow it down just for you. Is that better?”

At that point, the video shows the officer request that Perry step out of his vehicle, which he did without incident. But Perry refused to take a sobriety test, forcing the officers to arrest him and place him in handcuffs. While the officers conduct the arrest, Perry yells to console his wife, Latory, who was a passenger in the vehicle, and uses homophobic slurs to describe the officers.

“Latory, I’m getting arrested because I’m not doing this bullsh*t sobriety test,” Perry tells her. “Just relax, honey. I’ll be home soon. They know exactly who I am. They’re f *cking mad. F*ck these f*ggots! Couple of f*ggots! They’re a couple of f*ggots, forget about it!”

https://twitter.com/TMZ/status/1846594055020724567

Perry, 33, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, along with refusing to sign a citation requiring a court appearance, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office records. Perry is due in court at 8 a.m. on Oct. 30.

Perry, who spent five years in the UFC, has become the face of BKFC as the promotion’s reigning “King of Violence” champion after finishing Eddie Alvarez last December. Perry followed up that victory with another TKO of Thiago Alves last April.

Perry was “fired” publicly by Conor McGregor, who recently became a minority owner in BKFC, after his TKO boxing loss to Jake Paul. But McGregor indicated Perry could be welcomed back.

UFC veteran, BKFC star Mike Perry arrested and charged with DUI in Florida

BKFC “King of Violence” champion Mike Perry spent a few hours detained by police before posting bond.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

UFC veteran and BKFC star [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] recently was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, along with refusing to sign a citation requiring a court appearance in his home state of Florida.

According to Lake County Sheriff’s Office online records, Perry, 33, was arrested Oct. 12 at 1:04 a.m. by the Clermont Police Department in Clermont, Fla., about 25 miles west of Orlando. He was booked into jail at 4:36 a.m. and released roughly 5 hours later at 9:41 a.m. after posting a bond totaling $1,500.

According to a police report obtained by MMA Fighting, Perry was driving approximately 20 MPH over the speed limit at the time he was pulled over. The officer who pulled over Perry smelled alcohol coming from the vehicle, which Perry denied drinking. When the officer informed Perry that “his speech sounded slow,” Perry responded that the offcer’s “speech was fast.” Perry refused to take a sobriety test and was warned multiple times before he was arrested and transported to the Clermont Police Department where he refused to take a breath test and sign the DUI citation, which led to his second charge.

Perry is due in court at 8 a.m. on Oct. 30.

Perry, who spent five years in the UFC, has become the face of BKFC as the promotion’s reigning “King of Violence” champion after finishing Eddie Alvarez last December. Perry followed up that victory with another TKO of Thiago Alves last April.

Perry took a detour from BKFC this past July when he ventured into boxing to fight Jake Paul, who beat him by sixth-round TKO. After the loss, Conor McGregor, who’d recently become part owner of BKFC, publicly “fired” Perry from the organization.

But it seems the door has been opened for Perry to return.

“Mike is fired, but we’re in negotiation,” McGregor said this past weekend . “Redneck Mundell called him out. He’s been afraid of Mundell. We had to give him a little cherry pick-made title in the ‘King of Violence’ or whatever you call it. But he was never a world champion, and he’s afraid of Mundell, the Redneck Mundell. He’s called him out. Now let’s see what Perry responds.”

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