Bareknuckle boxing star Mike Perry has offered to be the back-up fighter if either Jake Paul or Nate Diaz pull out of their fight in August.
The BKFC fighter was once a middle-of-the-road UFC fighter, but has emerged as one of the biggest breakout stars of his new sport's biggest promotion. He is currently riding a four-fight winning streak which includes scalps of former middleweight world champion Luke Rockhold and top Bellator welterweight Michael 'Venom' Page.
And perhaps one of his most notable roles was back in February when he was named as the official replacement opponent for Paul's trip to Saudi Arabia if Tommy Fury were to pull out. The Brit had already missed two bouts with his rival due to injury and visa issues, and when he skipped the launch press conference for the event Perry emerged as a potential replacement for the event.
He perhaps tainted his relationship with Paul's Most Valuable Promotions when he reposted a farcical fake "script" for the event, which purported to show the plans to fix Paul vs Fury. But he wants back in to the replacement position, tweeting "I should be the back-up fighter in case Jake Paul doesn't show up to fight Nate Diaz."
Perry and Diaz was a fight that would have interested fans during their UFC days, but was never discussed with any level of severity from the promotion. And despite going undefeated in the BKFC 'squared circle', he has not boxed as a professional since his debut in 2015 when he was stopped by Kenneth McNeil in the final round of four.
He made his first outing following his UFC release in November of 2021 under Triad Combat rules, when he defeated former boxing contender Michael Seals. And he stepped into BKFC after that to face Julian Lane in an heated grudge fight, which he won to set up a visit to London where he defeated Page, and his latest win over Rockhold.
After his most recent win, Perry went head-to-head with UFC superstar Conor McGregor, who has insisted that he would like to compete in the sport. "I didn't know how that was going to go," McGregor told the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel after the fact.
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"That could have went any way and I would have been ready. He showed me respect fair play to him, Cerrone beat him and Cerrone was there as well. I would do it [bareknuckle boxing], yes I would in a heartbeat do it, for sure. It's hard to get a boring fight in it, it's actually almost impossible to get a boring fight in it.
"I'll tell you why, no other discipline or sport can say that there's zero per cent chance of a boring fight. They can all have a snooze-fest, boxing can be a snooze-fest, MMA can have them, there's no chance of a boring fight in bareknuckle because even if it is a back-and-forth jab match with not much going on, even a jab splits the skin.
"So from the split skin it causes panic in the ring, the crowd rises and then it's not a boring fight. Zero chance of a boring fight in it and it's interesting, I'd be up for it for sure. Why not?"
