Mike Perry reacts to Conor McGregor becoming part owner of BKFC after calling for fight against him
Mike Perry believed a fight against Conor McGregor really could happen after they shared a friendly faceoff following a BKFC event in 2023. Now “The King of Violence” would actually be beating up his employer if that fight takes place.
On Saturday night, McGregor announced that he is now a part owner in BKFC after investing in the burgeoning bare-knuckle promotion. The Irish superstar became a fan of the organization after attending that event and he stayed in contact with BKFC president David Feldman ever since to orchestrate the deal.
After attending that BKFC event, McGregor proclaimed that he wanted to compete in a bare-knuckle fight at least once in his career, which definitely got Perry’s attention. Reacting to the news that McGregor now owns a piece of BKFC, the 32-year-old veteran had nothing but praise for the man who will be at least partially responsible for his future paychecks.
“Shit, thank you, man,” Perry said about McGregor at the BKFC KnuckleMania 4 post-fight press conference. “I know you see it. We all love Conor McGregor’s fights. I mean he’s the biggest combat sports star in history probably. I mean we all still love Mike Tyson. He’s still about do something big on this Netflix thing.
“But Conor McGregor, nobody moves that needle like him and the Irish fans. The Irish fanbase is like the No. 1 combat sports fanbase because they travel across the world to come and see Conor McGregor all the time. He’s just done remarkable things.”
It wasn’t long ago when Perry shared a spot on the UFC roster alongside McGregor, which is when he first noticed the meteoric rise of “The Notorious.”
In fact, Perry recounted when McGregor really caught his attention for the first time on the night he became the undisputed UFC featherweight champion.
“I remember still to this day when he knocked out Jose Aldo, what I thought about it,” Perry said. “I was just like damn, bro! Because I knew Jose and I didn’t know Conor. He got me back then. The same way Ryan Garcia got our ass the other day when we thought he was crazy and then he beat the 31-0 [Devin Haney]. He showed up and fought like a man.
“I can look at those things and respect those things because I’m out here trying to do those things, too. I may not always do it clean. Like Conor McGregor pieced up Eddie Alvarez in the ring and it was a little different than the way it went with me.”
Perry admits he may not have the same kind of swagger as McGregor but the results speak for themselves.
After dispatching former UFC champions Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez in consecutive fights, Perry needed just 60 seconds to demolish Thiago Alves in his latest performance.
Now he awaits word on his next opponent but it doesn’t sound like Perry is totally giving up on fighting McGregor even if he’s now technically his boss.
“I haven’t fought longer than f*cking four minutes in like three years,” Perry said. “My shit don’t go long at all and I’m out here hurting people or they quit or they give up. I break their hearts.
“Conor’s always got heart. Even when we’ve seen him down, he’s still to be heard. They took him out on a stretcher [after breaking his leg] and he was still telling people how he felt about shit. But I’ll beat anybody in the world, period.”