Mike Perry says he was close to making a UFC comeback before negotiations with UFC matchmaker Hunter Campbell went south.
Perry will return to the Bare Knuckle FC ring against former UFC standout Thiago Alves on April 27th. He returns after 2023 wins against former UFC titleholders Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez in bare-knuckle boxing.
Before he emerged as the face of BKFC, Perry made a name for himself in the UFC Octagon. While he never surged into title contention, he earned some impressive wins, including over Paul Felder and Jake Ellenberger.
Perry still keeps an eye on MMA despite his newfound love for bare-knuckle fighting. He’s hinted at an MMA comeback, but after a recent phone call with Campbell, it appears it won’t happen in the UFC.
During a recent episode of The MMA Hour, Perry revealed that he recently tried to return to the UFC, but the promotion shut it down.
“I called the UFC a couple of times, I don’t think Hunter Campbell will pick up my calls anymore because I blasted him,” Perry shared. “I told him a while back ‘Hey man, before I sign my contract, I can go from these two-minute rounds back to [MMA], but you guys have to make it worth my while’…I was on my way to the gym about to train and had my wife in the car, I asked for guarantees and more fights than what I had on my BKFC contract…
“It was to make it worth their while…and he tried to call me out and said I can’t beat the Top 5 guys in our divisions right now. Well, sign me for one of the fights, and pay me like I’m fighting a Top 5 guy! Bring me in, and watch what happens. He didn’t want to deal with that, so they were just looking other places and they want these bodybuilders that come in for [$10k show, $10k win money].”
As of this writing, the UFC and Campbell have yet to confirm nor deny Perry’s allegations. Perry’s last MMA fight was a loss to Daniel Rodriguez in April 2021.
Perry still has an itch to return to MMA, but he’s changed his life in many ways through BKFC. He’s a significant reason why BKFC continues to expand, including in states like California and Nevada.
If Perry’s claims about Campbell and the UFC are true, it’s an intriguing look at how the promotion deals with some free agents, particularly former fighters who vy for a return to the Octagon.
I like Mike, he’s a tough guy and can make for some entertaining fights, but Hunter wasn’t really wrong in his assessment. No matter how much you pay Mike, it’s not going to level the playing field with the elites of the ww division…Mike seemingly found his calling in BKFC, and is being paid pretty well there. It’s probably in his best interest to stick to that, and make the most of that opportunity.
Well, they just signed MVP, who Perry just beat.
Yeah, and Luke was MW champ, Eddie was LW Champ.
Top 10 WW’s would be v tough for him indeed.
He’s making good money in BKFC, just stay there Mike , you are killing it.
Hunter likes him and has his best interests at heart.
Perry cannot beat the top 5 and should not fuck up his momentum by going back to the UFC.
He’s finally found what works for him and needs to just stick with that.
What happened to him and Till in BKFC?
Till was offered 2million but he turned it down.
Darren is now fighting KSI
Thanks Boyd.
If Alves is taking this seriously and gets in great shape he very well could win.
He’s always been strong with a nice tight, high guard and good skills.
He might be a good underdog bet.
heats up @ 8 minutes.
SweeTTT Deep
Well, let’s face it- he really can’t.
Doesn’t mean it’s not a somewhat short sighted move by UFC. I was really hoping that with the TKO thing that they would maybe shake up the way of doing business in UFC and bring in guys who would put on fun fights, instead of just focusing on rankings and championships.
There’s a high likelihood that if you put an unranked Mike Perry on your card, especially with a game opponent, that’s gonna be a FOTN that people in the crowd are gonna go home talking about, and there’s value to that.