For now, Mike Perry is sticking with MMA. After his triumphant return earlier this year, he’ll do battle next against Dillon Danis at Duel Arena’s inaugural event on Aug. 29.
The matchup came somewhat out of the blue when it was announced last week. Perry, 34, returned to MMA in May for a Netflix showdown with fellow veteran Nate Diaz on the debut MMA event hosted by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions. In the fight, Perry battered and bloodied Diaz en route to a second-round TKO via doctor’s stoppage. It was Perry’s first MMA win since a unanimous decision over Mickey Gall in June 2020.
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Perry had been mostly occupied with bare-knuckle boxing since 2022, and speaking Tuesday on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” he admitted he initially wasn’t sure if he’d stick with MMA after the Diaz win. According to Perry, the Danis fight was made official two days prior to the announcement; they’ll compete at 170 pounds in a ring rather than a cage.
“They offered me some money to fight Dillon Danis. I first heard [it’d happen in] Tennessee, then I heard someone say it was going to be in Orlando, and I was like, ‘Oh, we gotta do that. Like, that would be sick,'” the Florida native, Perry, told Uncrowned.
“My team came together at First Round Management. We know the promoter that’s working with Duel Arena [Dean Toole], I’ve known him for years. They just saw a fight that people have been wanting. Dillon Danis is a big name. Believe it or not, he is a big name. He’s a famous guy. He hasn’t gotten all the fair shots and chances at big fights.
“If you are a big fighter, a real fighter like myself, you can’t not take this opportunity. So I’m taking the opportunity here in my hometown of Orlando and looking to put on a great show.”
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After years of minimal activity in the combat sports world, Danis is also returning in MMA. The former Bellator welterweight prospect first came back to the sport last August when he submitted Warren Spencer with a guillotine choke in 15 seconds under the Misfits banner. Danis most recently in RAF, losing a wrestling match to former UFC champ Khamzat Chimaev via pinfall. The result quickly devolved into a massive post-match brawl, which wasn’t the first time Danis had been involved in pre- or post-match scuffles.
In terms of the fight itself, Perry is going in with a similar approach to the one he used against Diaz, despite the stylistic differences. He has no beef with the outspoken Danis, so it’s all peace and love in the early stages of their booking.
“I believe I’ll stuff his takedowns, I’ll stop him from being able to get me to the ground,” Perry said. “I am prepared for anywhere that the fight goes, but the game plan is to stay on my feet and strike him. I know his game plan is to even pull guard if he has to, and try to get [me] to play [his] game at all.
“He’s a savvy guy with some submissions, but I work with some of the best grapplers in the world here in central Florida at Fusion X-Cel. He hasn’t started his [trash-talking] yet. Maybe a little bit of posting, nothing terrible. I don’t think he wants to harm me personally. It takes two to tango, and we’re both prizefighters who fight for our families. We’re grown-a** men. I have more respect out there in the game than he does, but he’s out there competing. So, let’s get in the ring and throw some freaking bows, dog.”
Mike Perry beat Nate Diaz in his return to MMA earlier this year.
(Sarah Stier via Getty Images)
From an outside perspective, Perry’s latest move feels all the stranger considering the heights he reached in the bare-knuckle boxing world. Despite his extended absence from BKFC, Perry assures there aren’t any issues between him and the company.
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Perry did, however confirm BKFC founder Dave Feldman’s claim that he has two fights left on his current BKFC contract.
“The success I’ve had is extraordinary,” Perry said. “David Feldman himself said it. We have two fights left in the company. I still support the company. I just went to Italy and watched their Italy event, and that was all on my own doing. … So, I still support the company. I support David Feldman, and David Feldman did change my life. BKFC changed my life with my style of brutality. I did that by winning fights, and he goes, ‘We’ve got two fights left on the contract, but we need to sit down and rerun the numbers because of Mike’s success.’
“That’s all fair. Duel Arena, and the old promoter [Toole] we’ve known for years, reached out with a great opportunity to fight Dillon Danis. Maybe it is a little bit less money, but it’s a great opponent. We’ve been talking about this for a long time. Dillon, he may not have all the fights I have, but I would like to take that 0 from his MMA record and show the world and Dillon that there’s levels to this.
“I’m looking to be extremely violent and exciting. It’s not over with bare-knuckle either. Sometimes, I’ve got to be careful how I say things — I’m going to focus on Duel Arena 1, set this company up for their new promotion, and we’re doing it here at home.”
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Another aspect of Perry’s return to MMA is the timing couldn’t be wilder, as his longtime rival Darren Till has finally arrived in BKFC. The two former UFC rivals have orbited each other for a decade without ever throwing hands. If that fight were to happen somewhere, BKFC appeared to be the perfect home, and the time was seemingly now.
Instead, Feldman announced Till’s next fight Monday on “The Ariel Helwani Show” — a 190-pound catchweight showdown with Yoel Romero in September.
Whether Perry and Till ever fight at this point is hard to say, acknowledged Perry. In the end, he looks forward to Till’s latest while he prepares for his own task at hand in Danis.
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“He’s got a tough path with Yoel,” Perry said. “It’s like, after Yoel beats him up, you want me to fight him? I would assume that people would say yes, they do want me to fight him. It’s a longtime fight that didn’t happen, and I don’t want it to be like Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and [Tony] Ferguson.
“Yoel is no joke, whether he’s 50 years old or not. Yoel is smart. He fights smart. He’s fast. He’s ferocious. He’s very powerful. But Darren Till was able to beat ‘Wonderboy’ [Stephen Thompson] at one of ‘Wonderboy’s’ best times of his career. Yes, he did it in Liverpool. … The judges were on his side, and he point-fought with ‘Wonderboy’ really well. So, Darren’s very smart and fast, and he’s a capable fighter himself.
“Bare-knuckle, he’s already been knocked down,” Perry continued. “His knee has already touched the floor in one bout, and Yoel is as savvy as they come. Let them focus on that. I’ve gotta focus on Dillon ‘The Foot Grabber’ Danis.”
