It looks like Mike Perry already has an idea for the next page of the bareknuckle chapter of his fighting career.
Perry suggested a fight against former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis after his latest win inside the ring. Saturday in Colorado, Perry beat Eddie Alvarez by TKO when his corner stopped the fight in the BKFC 56 main event.
Wanting to continue his run against big former MMA legends, Perry sees Pettis as a fitting next step.
“One name that did come to mind that I did mention before I fought Alvarez was Anthony Pettis,” Perry said at the BKFC 56 post-fight press conference. “I think that’s an amazing fight.
“He just beat Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match. I think he’s intrigued by the bareknuckle aspect. I had fun with Eddie, but it happened exactly how I said it was going to happen. I posted that Kimbo Slice picture of that backyard fight, and what did he say? ‘You have to hit me. Come on.’ Once he hit me, then I started moving, and he stopped hitting me and by the end of the second, what happened? He got busted up worse than I did.”
Pettis most recently fought in April, when he beat 54-year-old Jones by majority decision in a boxing match. Pettis is scheduled to fight in the main event of Karate Combat 43 on Dec. 15 against Benson Henderson, whom he has two MMA wins over – once for the WEC title and once for the UFC belt.
Perry suggested a fight against Pettis after he was called out by BKFC lightweight champion Luis Palomino – a callout he didn’t take seriously.
“I think that whoever the company wants to match me against needs to have a certain number of followers, of hits on social media, on the internet, that are going to get people to tune in,” Perry said. “It can’t just be one-sided. It can’t just be me selling the hell out of the fight. It can’t be that way. It has to be a two-sided affair.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for BKFC 56.
