Mike Perry claims he has facilitated the long-awaited Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor trilogy by securing a fight with Diaz on May 16. Perry believes his recent success in bare-knuckle fighting and McGregor's inactivity played a key role in Diaz's decision to fight him instead.
NEW YORK – Fans have been clamoring for years for a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz trilogy, and Mike Perry believes he's the man responsible for allowing that massive fight to finally happen.
BKFC's "King of Violence" titleholder is set to fight Diaz on May 16 on MVP's inaugural MMA card, which is set to stream live on Netflix from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. According to Diaz, who revealed he was also in negotiations for a UFC return before signing to fight Perry, his MMA comeback was between a fight with Perry on Netflix or a trilogy bout in the UFC. As seen, Diaz chose to fight Perry and explained his reasoning earlier this month.
Perry feels his work since his UFC departure in 2021 is responsible for making the Diaz fight happen, along with McGregor's inactivity.
"It feels great; I kind of snatched that one from under McGregor," Perry told MMA Junkie and other reporters during a scrum following an MVP press conference on Wednesday. "I've been over there at bareknuckle getting all the fights while he's been talking on the sidelines, not fighting anybody, trying to piggyback off my hard work. So the fact that I took out the trilogy. Nate didn't want to fight a dangerous weakling like McGregor. He said he's on one f*cking leg. He said he's either out of the door or he's going to revitalize his career by stepping back in there and beating on somebody. I'm not worried about that. I'm looking to beat Nate and then get all the opportunities that come with that."
Perry feels he poses a type of danger that wouldn't have been present in the McGregor trilogy. Perry, 34, expects to bring the fight to Diaz, who's six years older than him. He wonders if Diaz has what it takes to put up with his tenacity and violence at this point in his fighting career.
"I think he maybe knows he's in trouble," Perry said. "He's getting older. He's had a long road in this game, as have I. With my youngness – you know, I'm a lot of years younger than him – my strength and power, my aggressive style. To bring that to him, he knows I'm coming at him. To get the opportunity to face a Nathan Diaz before he decides to leave the game, I'm going to give the fans the fight they want."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Mike Perry: I 'snatched' Nate Diaz trilogy from Conor McGregor
The fight between Mike Perry and Nate Diaz is scheduled for May 16.
Nate Diaz chose to fight Mike Perry because he felt Perry posed a greater challenge and was not interested in fighting an inactive Conor McGregor.
Mike Perry's comments suggest he believes his efforts in bare-knuckle fighting have overshadowed McGregor's inactivity, allowing him to secure a fight with Diaz that McGregor has long sought.
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