Conor McGregor‘s recent investment in BKFC, making him a part owner, has not ruled out a potential bare-knuckle fight between him and Mike Perry, despite McGregor’s ongoing UFC contract.
Mike Perry’s got a new promoter. Guess who? Conor McGregor. He’s now a part-owner in BKFC. But that doesn’t mean a bare-knuckle fight between them is off the table. Nope.
Over the weekend, at the BKFC KnuckleMania 4 event, McGregor announced his investment into BKFC. Made him a part owner. David Feldman, BKFC president, was over the moon. He expects McGregor to wield his influence over many aspects of the business.
About a year ago, McGregor attended a BKFC card. He slung one of the organization’s belts over a shoulder, shared a faceoff with Perry after Perry’s win over ex-UFC champ Luke Rockhold. Now, McGregor owns a piece of the promotion. He’s probably more concerned with a return on his investment. But Perry? He’d still gladly welcome him into the bare-knuckle arena as a fighter.
Perry told MMA Fighting, “It’s great to have the noise. No one markets quite like Conor. Even his announcement was a flashy little video. But I want it to be known that I am my own boss. I am also a part owner of the BKFC, and I’m in here doing work. So maybe a Conor fight [could happen].”
Perry’s realistic, though. He knows McGregor is a high priority for the UFC. McGregor is set to return to action at UFC 303 against Michael Chandler. It’s the penultimate fight on his contract. Win or lose, McGregor will then have one bout remaining. Perry gets it. UFC will probably move mountains to ensure the former two-division champ never enters free agency.
But Perry? He’s still entertaining the possibility of a McGregor clash one day. “The only thing about the Conor fight that could be a possibility is just time,” Perry said. “He still has two [fights] on his UFC contract. After he fights Michael Chandler, he’ll have one, and then the UFC’s coming to the table. They’ll probably attempt to lock him down on deals. The best deals you can put together, I don’t know.
“If he wanted to do it, that would be his choice. That’s why he still fights, because he wants to. I can respect that all day. A fight would be very fun considering we both fought Eddie Alvarez and he pieced him up real clean. Eddie didn’t really touch him. Eddie got me, he punched on me a little bit, but I kind of like that shit. I’m just a sick bastard like that.”
Perry’s been doing well in his bare-knuckle boxing career. He keeps racking up wins. He’s not sure McGregor would do any better than his past opponents, but he knows McGregor stays winning even if he’s not getting his hand raised in the ring.
“It’s hard to say nothing won’t end well for Conor,” Perry said. “The thing about me in bare-knuckle boxing, it’s always ending well for me as well. When you get two guys in the ring like that, you’re talking a heavy magnitude fight here. I used to say things like, ‘I’m the American Conor McGregor.’”
Perry drawing McGregor anytime soon seems unlikely due to his UFC contract. So that leaves BKFC’s “King of Violence” without an obvious next opponent. After dispatching Thiago Alves in just 60 seconds this past Saturday night, Perry called out fellow UFC veteran Darren Till. But he’s still not sure that fight will actually happen.
Beyond that, Perry hopes McGregor might be able to exert some influence to find him a worthwhile opponent for his next fight. “I was looking at Thiago like he had two [fights], he had the bare-knuckle world title. He had two bare-knuckle matches and he’s proven very tough in combat sports throughout the years,” Perry said. “I guess I trained like I thought he might be ready to put it on me, and then the results speak for themselves.”
“Recently, on my podcast — I can’t wait for the episode to come out — I called lots of people. I called out ‘Rampage’ Jackson, I called out Jon Jones, I called out Jean-Claude Van Damme. I’m calling them all out. If they want to practice fight first, go ahead, get you a practice fight or two. Because I’m taking off over here. I’m 5-0 in bare-knuckle right now, 6-0 in the past few years when it comes to this boxing. I need a challenge. I need a real boxer or someone I want to beat up like Darren Till. I want to beat that guy up, but I don’t think he’s coming to do no gloves. I’m in a weird place because I’m very good, I’m in a very good place but I’m also, who’s next? What’s it going to be?”
Perry believes that BKFC will find someone worthwhile. But he also gets that there are no certainties in combat sports. For now, he’s just enjoying the ride. “Sometimes in fighting, it could be your last fight and you didn’t even know it,” Perry said. “That’s up to the big wigs. I’m still on contract. I’m my own boss, but at the same time, when they call, they say, ‘We have an offer,’ OK, great, I’d love to hear it — and the offer’s extraordinary.
“I know there’s some other prizefighters that want an extraordinary offer. But now it’s a thing that has to be earned. They have to prove that they want the offer. They can’t just get in the ring, get paid, and leave after I knock them out. They have to earn that payday.”