Mike Perry responds to BKFC boss, gets real about bare-knuckle future after Nate Diaz fight

Life outside the MMA has treated Mike Perry better than life within it. Yet, after becoming arguably the biggest superstar in bare-knuckle boxing, he'll put his old four-ounce gloves back on for a showdown with Nate Diaz on Netflix as part of Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions event on May 16.

Perry, 34, has gone on a tear throughout the bare-knuckle boxing world with BKFC since 2022, winning all six of his bouts with the promotion. However, Perry's relationship with BKFC hit a snag when he boxed the aforementioned Paul in 2024, while simultaneously launching his own Dirty Boxing promotion. BKFC founder Dave Feldman was openly upset about Perry's decisions, but ultimately brought him back to the promotion for a fight against Jeremy Stephens last October. Perry scored another win with a fifth-round stoppage, but now finds himself once again in an awkward spot with his primary fighting home.

Earlier this month, Feldman told MMA Fighting he had "big plans" in place for his biggest star until Perry's focus shifted elsewhere. Reacting to the BKFC boss' comments in-studio on Wednesday, Perry said on "The Ariel Helwani Show" that he's "sorry to hear" those plans couldn't coincide timing-wise.

"I'm getting an opportunity here, and as a fighter, independent contractor, I gotta do business," Perry told Uncrowned. "I gotta make money. So getting to the money, apparently we had the one out [in our BKFC contract], which was the [Paul] boxing match. I didn't know it was a one-out type of thing. That's what Feldman's quote said. I thought we had more than that, or if it was anything other than bare-knuckle, there were outs.

"Someone talked to me this morning about technically our contract's timeframe went out. So I did say I'm still interested. I do like hitting someone bare-knuckle. I don't mind taking it either. I think there's good opportunities there. They have a new signing [Darren Till]. But for the fights they want me to fight, I'm 6-0, 'King of Violence' — I think for the couple names that they're going to bring to the table, the money changes anyways. A new contract comes into play. Sky is the limit. A big win here on Netflix, people will be clamoring for my signature."

Reincorporating every element of MMA has been a challenge for Perry. But it's one he's welcomed, working with names like UFC lightweight Terrance McKinney in preparation for his clash with Diaz.

For Perry (14-8), all the elements of MMA training have been tougher on his body after spending recent years working only on his hands. His Diaz bout will be his first in MMA since a 2021 loss to Daniel Rodriguez. Despite that layoff, Perry emphasizes that the shift back to his original sport isn't as drastic as it could've been if he'd focused exclusively on something like boxing rather than bare-knuckle.

"There was some rust, for sure," Pery said. "But I still, even in BKFC style or in Dirty Boxing — clinch fighting is a part of it. So there is some grappling going on in the stand-up version of the clinch, and trying to hit and hold. If you're holding, it's to push and pull at an angle so you can break away and hit the guy, which is a lot of MMA skill that we've done since my UFC days. But when it gets to the ground, someone like Terrance shoots a good double-leg — when a high-level black belt gets a position first on you or gets you down or the side of your back, starting with a position on your back or bottom side control, and you gotta work out from there, that can be pretty tough [to get back into]."

Mike Perry has a big opportunity in his MMA return.

(Bradley Collyer - PA Images via Getty Images)

The timing of Perry's latest venture coincides with BKFC signing his longtime "frenemy," Till, just this month. Both are former UFC welterweight contenders and have been the subject of fantasy matchups from fans for about a decade. However, a fight between them under any ruleset has yet to materialize.

That has the strongest potential to change now that both are tied to BKFC, with Till slated to debut May 30. However, in terms of the direction of each's immediate futures, much will hinge on the Diaz bout.

"They'd been talking about [that fight] since I got there," Perry said of fighting Till in BKFC. "I thought that they offered him $2 million to fight me in bare-knuckle. That was two years ago — a year and a half. So Darren posted a video that he's signed and they're going to have him fight. Good. Till's a big name. He should draw some views. [Let's] see if he has some success. Who's he going to fight? I'm sure Feldman will come up with it. They make some pretty good matchmaking over there.

"Darren did look terrible in the video, explaining that he was going over to bare-knuckle. He looked awful."

A move to the art of gloveless fisticuffs always felt inevitable for Till, who went undefeated in three boxing matches with Misfits in 2025.

From Perry's perspective, he never quite bought into the claims that Till was afraid or didn't want to compete in bare-knuckle. In his own experience, there was plenty of enticement around the prospect — including the element of fear.

"They make some very good offers," Perry said of BKFC. "The time limits on the fights look pretty tasty when you're looking at these fights. Five two-minute rounds? Bare-knuckle, quick, fast-paced, boom-boom. So a part of it was the fact that so many didn't want to do it, and that even I didn't want to do it, that pushed me to do it. Because so many don't want to, and even a little voice inside of me says — and a lot of good fighters said — 'Keep the gloves on.' I was like, nah, let's do it. Let's f***ing show up and show people what's up.

"So, good for Darren, he's very dangerous. He's done well with boxing gloves on, knocking people out. ... You never know where this goes."

Whether or not Perry vs. Till becomes a reality by 2026's end, the man known as "Platinum" can take his rollercoaster-like career to its greatest heights yet with a win over Diaz next month in Los Angeles.