Former UFC fighter Mike Perry has explained the reasoning behind why he brought a toy bat to a recent Bare Knuckle FC press conference and nearly used it on Julian Lane.
Perry made his BKFC debut this weekend against Lane at BKFC’s KnuckleMania 2 event. He won the fight via a unanimous decision in arguably a dominant performance from the debuting Perry.
The heat between Perry and Lane skyrocketed to new heights this week during the pre-fight press conference. After a series of back-and-forths on the microphone, the two nearly brawled on stage when Perry revealed he brought a toy bat to the presser. Security intervened and the two sides were quickly separated.
Mike Perry Explains Bringing Bat Prop To BKFC Presser
During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Perry explained his thought process behind bringing a bat to a pre-fight press conference.
“I’m gonna have my own bat, I don’t know how security gonna be,” Perry said. “I don’t know how quick they gonna be… I’m protecting myself, I gotta take care of me and the people around me. Outside of the ring, it ain’t fair. We ain’t fighting fair. I had a plastic wiffle ball bat, if that’s really an upper hand, you’ll be alright. You was gonna get a little smack to the face no problem.” (h/t BJPenn)
Perry was let go by the UFC following back-to-back losses to Daniel Rodriguez and Tim Means. Before that, he had been on a solid run with wins in four of his previous six fights.
Perry has always been known to up the ante when it comes to pre-fight staredowns and banter, but his approach to Lane was a sight to behold. It’ll be interesting to see how Perry’s bare-knuckle career fares going forward.
What was your reaction to Mike Perry pulling out a bat at a press conference?