According to Mike Perry, former UFC standout Darren Till turned down seven figures to toe the line with him….
According to Mike Perry, former UFC standout Darren Till turned down seven figures to toe the line with him.
Since making the move from the Octagon to the squared circle in 2022, ‘Platinum’ went from a middling welterweight to a bonafide bare-knuckle star under the BKFC banner. In his relatively short time with the promotion, Perry has already faced a who’s who of combat sports stars including Michael ‘Venom’ Page, Luke Rockhold, and Eddie Alvarez.
Gearing up for a return to the ring in 2024, all signs pointed toward Perry finally throwing hands with longtime rival Darren Till. Both men have traded shots back and forth in interviews and over social media for the past few years, and with neither being bound to a restrictive UFC contract, their clash seemed inevitable.
According to BKFC president David Feldman, the promotion had met Till’s financial needs during negotiations, but ‘The Gorilla’ ultimately declined to sign on the dotted line.
“I heard he said no to over $2 million dollars,” Perry said on the latest episode of The MMA Hour. “Darren’s just yapping away over there.”
According to Perry, Till would prefer their fight to be a traditional boxing match rather than a bare-knuckle brawl, and seemingly no amount of money is going to change his mind.
“What’s he doing? What is he doing? I know they gave him a hell of an offer,” Perry said. “Respect that you don’t care about that type of offer and you want what you want. When you want what you want, that’s respectable. But that’s one thing about BKFC too — at the end of the day, screw the gloves. Test yourself for real. Up against the bone. Skin and bone, baby, that’s what’s in there. Test yourself.”
Mike Perry is open to a traditional boxing match with Darren till
“A lot of guys say they wanna do it with boxing gloves or gloves of some kind,” he said. “Those fights will happen in the future. A big part of the [BKFC] contract is I can do other things as well, and if the right money, and it has to be right because I’m being paid very handsomely.”
On April 27, Perry will look to add another name to his hit list when he meets former BKFC champion Thiago Alves at the promotion’s fourth annual KnuckleMania event in Los Angeles.
Check out Mike Perry’s full appearance on The MMA Hour below:
Youtube star turned BKFC brawler Paige VanZant recently opened up about a scary stalker situation that she experienced. Despite…
Youtube star turned BKFC brawler Paige VanZant recently opened up about a scary stalker situation that she experienced.
Despite not having competed since 2021, ’12 Gauge’ continues to be one of the biggest names in all of combat sports, much of that due to her immense popularity on social media and through her OnlyFans account which grants fans unparalleled access to the former UFC flyweight.
Unfortunately, that level of fame does come with a potential downside. During a recent episode of her podcast, Paige and Austin: A Kickass Love Story, VanZant revealed that she had a run-in with a particularly chilling stalker who had approached her while she was training at her home gym, American Top Team.
“I had a stalker, a big-time stalker,” VanZant said on her podcast. “I’m training and I notice this guy watching me the whole time. Instantly, I got the vibe that this guy is f*cking weird and staring at me the whole time. I thought he’s a fan so you try to be nice. Of course, people can be nervous. It was the prime of my UFC career, maybe he was just a fan and was nervous.
“He comes over and starts talking to me. He’s like, ‘Hey, how are you? I’m so happy to meet you or I’m so happy that we’re together.’ I was like, ‘Oh, okay.’ I was like, ‘What’s your name?’ He was like, ‘It’s blah blah blah, we’ve been talking on Instagram for years.’ I was like, ‘What?’”
Paige VanZant reveals the fighter who came to her rescue
As it turns out, the man had been messaging her on social media for years, sending multiple messages per day unbeknownst to VanZant.
“I go in the back [of the gym] and open the messages,” VanZant continued. “He has been messaging every single day. At least 10 to 20 messages for the last four years. Every day he would message and message and message about how we’re meant to be together. About how Allah told him we were meant to be together and how he was thinking about me the entire time he was in jail” (h/t BJPenn.com).
VanZant revealed that her ATT teammate and former UFC standout Ed Herman had noticed the man harassing ’12 Gauge’ and promptly ordered him to leave the gym. VanZant has not seen or heard from him since.
It’s certainly not the first time VanZant has had to deal with an overzealous fan. Earlier this year, she claimed that one man had offered her $50,000 to cut her hair into a specific style — the caveat being that she had to send him all of her hair to collect the cash. VanZant admittedly mulled over the offer for a few days before ultimately declining.
Despite making money hand over fist through her ventures outside of the cage and the ring, Paige VanZant has remained insistent that she is not retired from fighting. In February, ’12 Guage’ announced that she had accepted a boxing match tentatively scheduled for May or June. VanZant initially expected her return to be for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the promotion she signed with shortly after her exit from the UFC in 2020.
VanZant remains hopeful that the promotion will bring her back for one more bare-knuckle fight.
John Dodson didn’t always love the idea of bare-knuckle boxing. Now, he’s the BKFC champ. How did that happen?
It might be hard to believe now, but John Dodson’s current bare-knuckle boxing run almost didn’t even come to fruition. What started as a deed for a family member has evolved over the years, and now sees him headlining a card this weekend with a title in the mix.
The 39-year-old UFC vet currently holds the BKFC Flyweight Championship, which he earned with a first-round stoppage of JR Ridge last year. He has previously stopped two other fighters under bare-knuckle boxing rules and is scheduled to put his belt on the line against standout Dominican Republic pro boxer Dagoberto Aguero this Friday.
John Dodson talks BKFC journey
Knowing all of that, you might be shocked about what happened when he was first asked about competing in fighting sans the gloves.
“To be honest with you? I said no,” Dodson said in a recent interview. “I told them absolutely not.”
The visuals of bare-knuckle boxing were off-putting for Dodson. While he has seen the studies that suggest bare-knuckle boxing, albeit still a dangerous sport, could have a lower rate of concussions than other forms of combat, nasty “skin on skin, bone to face” contact in matches gives him pause to this day.
“I still have that sense that ‘I don’t want to do this,’” Dodson joked. “Every time I’m at a BKFC event, I’m hearing people get hit in the back and it sounds so painful, man!”
Brotherly Love
Mandatory Credit: BKFC
So what brought Dodson into BKFC? Stepping up for a family member and showing brotherly love, believe it or not.
It was John’s brother, Eric who first expressed interest in competing for BKFC. John said his brother, known as the “Thuggy Bear,” went to a tryout hosted by the promotion and earned an opportunity to compete. However, fights kept falling through. John wanted to give his brother a shot at competing in BKFC, so he accepted a fight when they came to his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and made sure his Eric would get on the undercard.
“Ultimately I had to do my brother a solid,” Dodson said. “Be a good big brother and put on a hell of a show.”
Both of the Dodson brothers have found success since then. Dodson won his BKFC debut in just 40 seconds, putting away fellow UFC alum Ryan Benoit. “Thuggy Bear” picked up his last victory just a couple of months back. While he may have hesitancy about bare-knuckle fights, Dodson believes he’s in a period of his career that he is truly loving.
A Post-UFC Dodson
Four years removed from the end of his UFC run, a time in the promotion that lasted nearly a decade and included two different title fights against Demetrious Johnson, Dodson says he’s simply having fun. The pressure of being in the top MMA promotion is gone, allowing him to do so much more.
“When I was in UFC at 135 [pounds], I was still trying to secure a job and I wasn’t having fun anymore … I was playing the safe game, I wanted to ensure I had a next fight scheduled. Once those next fights stopped coming through, I had to change up my mentality. Back into having fun, making sure I can go and do what I always love.”
When his UFC career initially came to an end, Dodson remembers feeling lost. “Oh s***, I need to get a real job,” he remembers thinking. But it wouldn’t end up being the end of the road for him. What helped him regain focus was coaching at United Fit, where the Nobody’s Villains MMA team trains. Coaching is something that he wants to do even after his time as a fighter has come to an end.
“I always love coaching my team. Those guys keep me motivated … They push me to a new limit. When I was let go from the UFC, I needed something else to motivate me. I keep on training their guys, making sure that they can get better. And not only that, it helps me put the best foot forward.”
Dodson says he wants to keep competing to set an example for his students: “I don’t want to sit there and be telling them, ‘Hey you guys should do this, this is how you really become a champion’ without ever being one at all.”
While competing in bare-knuckle boxing, Dodson is no doubt still fully in the MMA world. He has been balancing his time as of late in between BKFC and Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN. He won his RIZIN debut in late 2022, stopping veteran talent Hideo Tokoro. He had a three-fight winning streak in MMA snapped late last year when 2021 RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix winner Hiromasa Ougikubo beat him on scorecards. While nothing has been announced, he hopes to return to Japan sometime soon.
Not Afraid of Aguero
Mandatory Credit: Mike Roach – Zuffa LLC
Friday will be a different challenge compared to previous BKFC fights that Dodson has been in. He has previously faced MMA fighters under bare-knuckle rules or fighters like former champ Ridge, who have experience strictly in BKFC. But this weekend he’ll be facing a talent who comes from a more traditional boxing background.
Aguero made his BKFC debut last year with a third-round win over Chance Wilson. He had a 17-fight pro boxing record before then, mainly building up wins in the Dominican Republic. He switched over to bare-knuckle competition after suffering a pair of losses, dropping a decision to Aram Avagyan and getting stopped by former Rey Vargas opponent Azat Hovhannisyan.
The different matchup doesn’t bother Dodson, as he seems to have the same confident mindset no matter who is across from him.
“I mean, he can have as many experiences all he wants,” he said. “15-2 doesn’t mean anything to me when it comes to being the more dynamic striker. I’ve solidified myself being one of the most dangerous strikers and one of the most decorated ones out of all of them.”
If the story about Dodson coming around on competing for BKFC didn’t prove that he’s still a changing and transforming fighter, a glance at his career makes a solid case as well. When looking at his success recently, it’s clear that he is having one of the strongest runs of his entire career. Before his close loss in RIZIN just a few months ago, he had a six-fight stretch of victories between MMA and bare-knuckle boxing, a run that hasn’t been seen since the start of his UFC campaign. Dodson competed a total of four times last year, a level of activity that was last seen more than a decade ago in his career.
A win this weekend would continue Dodson’s recent career resurgence and keep his champion status. And who knows, maybe it will keep him in the bare-knuckle sport that he still has second thoughts about for one more fight.
Mike Perry wants a fight with Jake Paul, whether it be in the squared circle or on the street….
Mike Perry wants a fight with Jake Paul, whether it be in the squared circle or on the street.
The former UFC standout turned BKFC brawler is scheduled to knuckle up on April 27 for the promotion’s fourth annual KnuckleMania event in Los Angeles against another ex-UFC fighter, Thiago Alves. Since making his promotional debut two years ago, ‘Platinum’ has dispatched a series of notable names, including recent UFC debutant Michael ‘Venom’ Page and a couple of former champions, Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez.
Speaking with TMZ Sports, Perry was asked who is at the top of his list of potential dream opponents under the BKFC banner. ‘Platinum’ didn’t hesitate to call out Jake Paul, but expressed doubt that ‘The Problem Child’ would have the testicular fortitude to toe the line with him on bare-knuckle boxing’s biggest stage.
“Yes, but he’s not doing bare-knuckle,” Perry said. “But I wouldn’t put it past Jake Paul because he’s been doing stuff that people would say he’s afraid of and things like that. And that’s partly what drew me to bare-knuckle was that so many were worried about it, or afraid of it, and I’m like, ‘It seems real to me.’ So Jake, man, definitely issuing you a challenge: If you get through Mike Tyson, test yourself for real, and let’s have a street fight” (h/t MMA Junkie).
Mike Perry Promises to make jake paul ‘cry and run away’
Perry was also critical of Jake Paul’s recent selection of opponents, particularly after scoring a couple of quick first-round KOs against a pair of no-name fighters under his Most Valuable Promotions banner.
“F*ck Jake,” Perry added. “Yeah, he’s got some talent, but I’d like to say I’m beating him as fast as he’s beating these taxi drivers, especially bare-knuckle. I’ll hurt him, and he’ll cry and run away and cower in the corner in the fetal position.”
Paul is currently scheduled for what is expected to be one of the most watched fights in combat sports history when he steps inside the ring for a boxing match with heavyweight legend ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson on July 20. The fight will air live on Netflix at no extra charge for the streaming giant’s 260+ million subscribers.
Mike Perry wants a fight with Jake Paul, whether it be in the squared circle or on the street….
Mike Perry wants a fight with Jake Paul, whether it be in the squared circle or on the street.
The former UFC standout turned BKFC brawler is scheduled to knuckle up on April 27 for the promotion’s fourth annual KnuckleMania event in Los Angeles against another ex-UFC fighter, Thiago Alves. Since making his promotional debut two years ago, ‘Platinum’ has dispatched a series of notable names, including recent UFC debutant Michael ‘Venom’ Page and a couple of former champions, Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez.
Speaking with TMZ Sports, Perry was asked who is at the top of his list of potential dream opponents under the BKFC banner. ‘Platinum’ didn’t hesitate to call out Jake Paul, but expressed doubt that ‘The Problem Child’ would have the testicular fortitude to toe the line with him on bare-knuckle boxing’s biggest stage.
“Yes, but he’s not doing bare-knuckle,” Perry said. “But I wouldn’t put it past Jake Paul because he’s been doing stuff that people would say he’s afraid of and things like that. And that’s partly what drew me to bare-knuckle was that so many were worried about it, or afraid of it, and I’m like, ‘It seems real to me.’ So Jake, man, definitely issuing you a challenge: If you get through Mike Tyson, test yourself for real, and let’s have a street fight” (h/t MMA Junkie).
Mike Perry Promises to make jake paul ‘cry and run away’
Perry was also critical of Jake Paul’s recent selection of opponents, particularly after scoring a couple of quick first-round KOs against a pair of no-name fighters under his Most Valuable Promotions banner.
“F*ck Jake,” Perry added. “Yeah, he’s got some talent, but I’d like to say I’m beating him as fast as he’s beating these taxi drivers, especially bare-knuckle. I’ll hurt him, and he’ll cry and run away and cower in the corner in the fetal position.”
Paul is currently scheduled for what is expected to be one of the most watched fights in combat sports history when he steps inside the ring for a boxing match with heavyweight legend ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson on July 20. The fight will air live on Netflix at no extra charge for the streaming giant’s 260+ million subscribers.
Mike Perry wants a fight with Jake Paul, whether it be in the squared circle or on the street….
Mike Perry wants a fight with Jake Paul, whether it be in the squared circle or on the street.
The former UFC standout turned BKFC brawler is scheduled to knuckle up on April 27 for the promotion’s fourth annual KnuckleMania event in Los Angeles against another ex-UFC fighter, Thiago Alves. Since making his promotional debut two years ago, ‘Platinum’ has dispatched a series of notable names, including recent UFC debutant Michael ‘Venom’ Page and a couple of former champions, Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez.
Speaking with TMZ Sports, Perry was asked who is at the top of his list of potential dream opponents under the BKFC banner. ‘Platinum’ didn’t hesitate to call out Jake Paul, but expressed doubt that ‘The Problem Child’ would have the testicular fortitude to toe the line with him on bare-knuckle boxing’s biggest stage.
“Yes, but he’s not doing bare-knuckle,” Perry said. “But I wouldn’t put it past Jake Paul because he’s been doing stuff that people would say he’s afraid of and things like that. And that’s partly what drew me to bare-knuckle was that so many were worried about it, or afraid of it, and I’m like, ‘It seems real to me.’ So Jake, man, definitely issuing you a challenge: If you get through Mike Tyson, test yourself for real, and let’s have a street fight” (h/t MMA Junkie).
Mike Perry Promises to make jake paul ‘cry and run away’
Perry was also critical of Jake Paul’s recent selection of opponents, particularly after scoring a couple of quick first-round KOs against a pair of no-name fighters under his Most Valuable Promotions banner.
“F*ck Jake,” Perry added. “Yeah, he’s got some talent, but I’d like to say I’m beating him as fast as he’s beating these taxi drivers, especially bare-knuckle. I’ll hurt him, and he’ll cry and run away and cower in the corner in the fetal position.”
Paul is currently scheduled for what is expected to be one of the most watched fights in combat sports history when he steps inside the ring for a boxing match with heavyweight legend ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson on July 20. The fight will air live on Netflix at no extra charge for the streaming giant’s 260+ million subscribers.
Youtube star turned BKFC brawler Paige VanZant recently opened up about a scary stalker situation that she experienced. Despite…
John Dodson didn’t always love the idea of bare-knuckle boxing. Now, he’s the BKFC champ. How did that happen?
Mike Perry wants a fight with Jake Paul, whether it be in the squared circle or on the street….
