Midnight Mania! Gamebred Boxing Paying UFC Veteran Triple For ‘Diesel’ Duel

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Former UFC Middleweight Markus Perez (14-6 overall, 2-5 UFC) fought some tough opposition in his seven-fight UFC career, most notably coming up short opposite a current Top 10 talent in Dricus du Plessis. At his highest point, the former LFC champion managed to snag a submission win over Anthony Hernandez, who’s also on a bit of tear right now.

Athletes like “Stillknocks” and “Fluffy” are pretty elite competition currently, but the same cannot be said for Perez’s upcoming opponent, Joe Riggs, whom Perez will battle tomorrow (Sat., April 1, 2023) at Gamebred Boxing 4 live on UFC Fight Pass, PPV.com from inside Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

No disrespect to the former WEC Middleweight champ and UFC Welterweight title challenger, but “Diesel” is 40 years of age and has now lost two of his last three bare knuckle bouts via stoppage. Riggs doesn’t appear to be at the top of his game any longer, but Perez claims to be making much more money to fight him compared to those UFC challenges.

Perez explained to MMA Fighting how the match came together when Jorge Masvidal reached out to him at the gym about fighting knockout artist Paul Daley. Daley withdrew the week of the fight, and Riggs will fill in for him.

“I told him I’m a MMA fighter and I’ll fight anything,” Perez explained. “[Masvidal] said, ‘I’ll offer you this much for a boxing match.’ I was like, ‘What? More than I was making in the UFC? I’m in. Let’s do it.’ It’s good money, but my focus is on beating the guy.”

How much more is more? Perez answered “three times” as much, and he’s targeting another Gamebred Boxing bout in May.

“I’m very competitive in everything I do and I want to win,” Perez continued. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m going there to win. Maybe that will open doors for me in MMA as well, sure, but I have to win.”

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