Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
“I saw this coming the last several months with Mike Perry.” — UFC President Dana White
UFC President Dana White was not surprised by last weekend’s public meltdown from welterweight slugger Mike Perry (see it here), one that sent an alleged victim to the hospital and left “Platinum” with the wrong kind of Internet fame.
If White did in fact “see this coming” then he probably should have intervened before Perry ended up with an assault charge. Not that UFC or its executives are expected to babysit troubled talent, but White might be the only person who can reach him.
“I saw this coming the last several months with Mike Perry,” White said on Friday. “All you have to do is watch his interviews. He literally said in an interview leading up to his last fight, ‘I hate all of you. I hate the media. I hate the fans. You guys want to say stuff to me on Twitter and then walk up to my face and try to be nice to me. I’m telling you. Don’t walk up to me when you see me in the streets. Don’t touch me and don’t say hi to me.’ He said that leading up to that last fight. He’s a man of his word, apparently, and here we are today.”
Perry, 28, has been with UFC for over four years now but was already embroiled in controversy in his very first fight. His most recent outing, a UFC on ESPN 12 victory over Mickey Gall, got more attention for what took place outside the cage.
“He obviously needs some help,” White said. “That’s not normal behavior. He’s gotten a lot more angry and agitated. You see this happen with guys and girls when they start to get a little bit of fame. They start to get famous. He’s definitely a guy that should probably stay off social media. He needs to make a few changes in his life. We’re going to do everything we can to help him.”
UFC is no stranger to fighters who struggle to maintain their fame. Jon Jones has been in and out of trouble with the law for what seems like an eternity and even former champion Conor McGregor has been arrested for acting stupid.
Hopefully Perry can work through his problems before anyone else gets hurt, including himself.