Mike Perry notched another victory in the win column at BKFC 56 over the UFC former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. Looking to continue his momentum of big wins over big names, Perry is now fully setting his sights on a battle with another former UFC champion: Anthony Pettis.
The fight with Alvarez was intense, and it was another brutal showing of how extreme bare-knuckle boxing is. The fight wasn’t one-sided from the jump, but eventually, it turned into a beatdown. Alvarez wore the damage a lot worse than Perry did, and it prompted his corner to stop the fight in the second round.
During his post-fight interview inside the ring, Mike Perry made his desire for the fight with Pettis clear. After that, he also further discussed the idea at the post-fight press conference.
Mike Perry elaborates on his Anthony Pettis callout and describes the pressure of being BKFC’s Biggest star
During the post-fight press conference, Perry opened up about how he was feeling. He talked about the callout, but would also give the media and fans a glimpse into his thought process regarding the caliber of fighters he’s looking to compete against.
“One name that did come to mind that I did mention before I fought Alvarez was Anthony Pettis,” Perry told the media (H/T MMA JUNKIE). “I think that’s an amazing fight.”
“He just beat Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match,” Mike Perry continued. “I think he’s intrigued by the bare-knuckle aspect. I had fun with Eddie, but it happened exactly how I said it was going to happen. I posted that Kimbo Slice picture of that backyard fight, and what did he say? ‘You have to hit me. Come on.’ Once he hit me, then I started moving, and he stopped hitting me and by the end of the second, what happened? He got busted up worse than I did.”
Mike Perry would later go on and explain why he’s yet to face an actual competitor from BKFC such as Luis Palomino, BKFC’s lightweight champion. But, Perry refuses to take such a callout seriously, when his main goal is selling fights.
“I think that whoever the company wants to match me against needs to have a certain number of followers, of hits on social media, on the internet, that are going to get people to tune in,” Perry said firmly. “It can’t just be one-sided. It can’t just be me selling the hell out of the fight. It can’t be that way. It has to be a two-sided affair.”
What do you think about Perry’s statement about only wanting big names to fight?