Mike Perry responds to Jeremy Stephens' callout, provides latest on BKFC return
03/20/2025 09:00 AM
Mike Perry has heard Jeremy Stephens call him out for a mega-fight in BKFC between two UFC veterans, but what Perry hears and what he sees appear to be two different things.
Stephens has been eyeing a fight with Perry since his stoppage win over Eddie Alvarez at KnuckleMania 5 in January, and even since signing for a return fight in the UFC at UFC Des Moines in May, "Lil' Heathen" continues to put that matchup out into the world.
The issue is, for Perry, what Stephens is asking for in order to make it happen is ridiculous.
"These guys, man," Perry told MMA Fighting. "These little guys want to call me out and be like, 'Cut down to 165 or 170 pounds.' Jeremy even said it on the JAXXON podcast, he's like, make him cut to 170, and then put the weight clauses on [so] that I can only gain 10 percent after I weigh in. So that means I wouldn't be allowed to get over 190 after weighing in at 170 — if I can even make 170 after I just had a fight, I tried to make 200.
"I think 185 is a great weight class for me. There's a lot of action at that weight class. If you want me to face a certain type of striker, I need that weight under me to put the pressure on them and hit them hard with these little hands, man, like I did to the other guys at 185. I mean, I took the bare the best bare knuckle boxer there was prior to myself being Thiago Alves. He comes back for the fight after had a couple of bare knuckle [wins], but we had never seen anyone dominate him.
"No one did what I did to him. I beat Thiago and they called it at a minute, but it was 40 seconds he went down. One shot. One land in that bare-knuckle ring, and I put him down."
Perry hasn't competed since losing a boxing match to Jake Paul this past July, and hasn't fought in the BKFC ring in almost a year when he destroyed Alves at KnuckleMania 4. The 33-year-old is undefeated for the promotion, and has become the sport's biggest star in the process with wins over Alvarez, Alves, former UFC middleweight champ Luke Rockhold, and current UFC welterweight Michael Page.
Currently, Perry is wearing his promotional hat as he's preparing for Dirty Boxing 1 this Saturday in Miami. While he's busy with that, of course, Perry wants to prepare for a fight, and provided an update.
"Yeah, my managers are speaking with Dave," Perry explained. "They have some ideas, It's just, at this level, talking the money, we're talking. Anybody who faces me is about to get paid. Anybody I face, I'm about to get paid. So when the money comes together like that, it takes time. They're giving me ample time to prepare myself since the Jake Paul [boxing match] being the last fight. Didn't go my way, or as I planned for it to go, and they're really making me soak in my wounds to really get that hunger and drive that when I get my opportunity to get back in the ring, I will compete to the best of my abilities.
"We want to put on a banger for the fans. It's got to be a name that makes sense for the organization, for the fan base, for my opponent, and for me. It's still just a matter of time. [My manager has] been telling me we're looking at May and it hasn't been announced yet, but so far, it's still we're looking at May. So let's hope that it is May and 'Platinum' Mike Perry will be back soon."
At this point in his life and career, Perry sees the value he brings to the promotional table, as well as for the opponents he would face in the ring. "Platinum" knows each fight he'll have for BKFC would generate a ton of interest, so why not shoot for the moon and hope to land on a star?
"I'd like to face Jake Paul in Dirty Boxing, or Conor McGregor in bare-knuckle, or in Dirty Boxing," Perry said. "People are like, 'Oh, you're calling [for] the money fights,' but that's the thing, I'm a money fight. These guys who only make $25,000 to fight, they're calling me out. That's fine. I get that. Only guys who want to fight me in bare-knuckle are the guys who are in bare-knuckle and their name's not moving the needle.
"My fight, my next fight, it will move the needle. When they say 'Platinum' Mike Perry is going to get back in the ring, that needle will move on that night. I'm being told by Feldman that this certain name that we're trying to get, if it doesn't work out with that name, he's going to get me someone, one of their guys. 185, let's run it. Their champion at 185, Mike 'the Marine' Richmond [who is fighting Josh Dyer next], respect for your service, bro. But bare-knuckle, that's my service. Let's go."
