Mike Perry would like to see more respectful business practices within the UFC.

UFC 298 was a big night for several winners throughout the evening of action in Anaheim, Calif. two weekends ago. Amongst them was the clear-cut top-bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili, who maintained his place in the rankings as he extended his winning streak to a divisional record of 10.

After the unanimous decision nod over the former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo, Dvalishvili was the center of some newfound praise from UFC CEO Dana White. The promotional leader was previously somewhat sour on Dvalishvili after “The Machine” was reluctant to collide with his best friend and teammate, the former 135-pound title holder Aljamain Sterling. Now that Sterling is gone from the weight class, the path is clear for Dvalishvili while other streaking UFC contenders like Belal Muhammad at welterweight still struggle to lock down their title shot.

Watching everything unfold from his throne as the BKFC’s prized possession, Perry couldn’t keep quiet any longer.

“I heard Dana be like, ‘Yeah, ‘cause he wouldn’t fight his friend, you know how much we f****** love that here,’” Perry said on his OverDogs Podcast. “I was like, was that sarcasm, or was he serious? I thought sometimes they do f****** (fist gesture to mouth) on people who are like, ‘Oh my god, put ‘em on a pedestal because he was doing the right thing and he won’t fight his friend, but this guy over here is doing the same f****** thing, we’re gonna be mad at’ because why?

“They f****** pick and choose whoever the f*** they want, whenever the f*** they want. They do whatever the f*** they want and no one can tell them anything about it. That’s where it’s f****** annoying and I lose interest.”

The UFC and MMA has evolved a lot over the years. That goes without saying, of course, but optically, there has been a lot of clean-up done, whether physically or production and broadcast-wise.

Fighter attire was once littered with sponsors and labeled “Nascar-like.” That’s still a regular sight across the sport overall. UFC, however, has utilized one specific look with the help of one brand, which was first Reebok before the currently in place Venum fight kits. That along with striking the groundbreaking ESPN deal in 2019 have been a part of the push to bring UFC to that global sport-scale feel.

Though, other than that, Perry doesn’t see the comparisons.

“It’s funny because they make everybody look the same now and they wanna be f****** NFL, NBA of combat sports, but they don’t f****** act like it,” Perry said. “They’re still f****** rude, disrespectful, rich a**holes, who don’t give a f*** about these fighters or anyone who puts their life on the line to do this s***. Then they’ll turn around and say, ‘Oh, god bless him, he’s putting his life on the line. These f****** fighters.’ They’ll stand up against the media and be like, ‘You know what these f****** fighters go through?’

“At the same time, they’re the ones f****** trying to make them kill themselves for this s*** and they get — wherever their f****** head’s at. It’s like a whim. The first thing that comes to their f****** head. He’s pissed in that moment, ‘I don’t give a f***, how about that?’

‘It’s f****** childish. How the richest f****** guy, most popular, most famous f****** guy of all time is childish,” he continued. “Cause the NFL owners and s***, they would never say any of this f****** s*** about any of their players. It’s always love, god, respect, nation, power, honor.”

Perry’s UFC run came to an end in April 2021 after he entered the organization as an undefeated 7-0 welterweight prospect in August 2016 on UFC 202.

The Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor rematch headlined the event and wasn’t at all the worst to debut on. Perry slid into the second main card slot opposite Hyun Gyu Lim, whom he TKO’d in round one and kicked off a quick stretch of momentum and popularity. Perry went 7-8 (14-8 overall) before he parted ways with the UFC and has since reached his greatest heights yet as a superstar in bare-knuckle boxing.

Perry, 32, recently expressed his interest in a fight with Diaz, who is also free of any UFC shackles. Even if that means returning to MMA and the UFC, suggesting a UFC 300 showdown. UFC CBO Hunter Campbell quickly shut down that idea when called by Perry on his podcast last month, countering it by telling Perry to jockey for the fight in BKFC.

White was recently seen meeting with BKFC President Dave Feldman, but no news has come from it. At this stage, if anything does happen, the plans might be a little awkward if they involve “Platinum.”

“F*** the bulls***, if I really feel some f****** type of way about it, I feel you, Dana. I don’t give a f*** either,” Perry said. “I could care less. I could care less about the media passes because you don’t want me to ask the f****** questions that I want to f****** ask cause you don’t want to f****** text me back anymore cause you’re f****** salty that I called your a** and you picked up on the second ring. When’d you call me? I didn’t f****** feel salty that you were like, ‘What’s up, you lunatic?’ Hi, I’m a f****** human being. I’m a f****** person, too. I don’t walk around with security all f****** day to protect my f****** nut sack. I am the security!”

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TOP STORIES

Wild. Brian Ortega explains freak UFC Mexico City injury, calls out ‘disrespectful’ behavior toward Alexander Volkanovski

Chaos. Dana White reacts to ‘crazy’ crowd fight at UFC Mexico City: ‘I’ve never seen any s*** like that in my life‘

Prediction. Jon Jones expects Francis Ngannou to lose to Anthony Joshua: ‘Sorry, Francis‘

Legals. Michael Bisping, Michael Chandler, Chael Sonnen, prominent MMA managers testifying for UFC in antitrust lawsuit

Recovery. Michael Chandler hopes Alexander Volkanovski takes longer layoff after back-to-back knockout losses

Aftermath. ‘Francis thinking I’ma stay in boxing’: Pros react to Renan Ferreira‘s 21-second bulldozing of Ryan Bader

Weird. Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios scrapped from UFC Mexico City just before walkouts, Turcios disputes UFC Vegas 87 re-booking announcement

Dates. UFC 303 set for June 29 during International Fight Week

Crossover. Randy Couture wishes Sean Strickland could pursue Jake Paul fight but UFC ‘never going to let that happen‘

Location. UFC targeting St. Louis as destination for upcoming card on May 11

Upset. Brandon Royval plans to keep ‘spoiling parties,’ take Alexandre Pantoja‘s title at UFC 301

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VIDEO STEW

UFC Mexico and PFL vs. Bellator Post-Show.

UFC 298 Slo-Mo.

Free fights.

Max’s Road to UFC 300.

Travel workout.

Nickal’s Road to UFC 300.

Defend like Loma.

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MORNING MUSIC

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Content.

Not bad.

Lol.

How about that?

Solid.

Angela Magana has some company.

Sick.

Icon.

Featherweight Reis, I’ll be damned.

Mason Jones!

No water for Saori.

Get Kana back in the cage, PFL.

Winner (without water).

Onward.

Somewhere…

Well, that’s a nickname, alright.

Normalize!

Kinda gross.

Nice shot.

Scenes.

Just brawl.

Usually.

Another thing that will never happen.

Mexican Merab.

Superstar.

Poor Chuck.

Okay.

Predator.

Wild one.

Bullseye.

Bring him back.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Jihin Radzuan (9-3) vs. Chihiro Sawada (6-0-1); ONE Fight Night 20, March 9

Joel Álvarez (20-3) vs. Mateusz Rębecki (19-1); UFC Vegas 91, April 27

Michael Johnson (23-19) vs. Matt Frevola (11-4-1); UFC Fight Night, May 11

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Perry’s career post-UFC has been fascinating. It’s not surprising for him to be someone who speaks up about an issue, but it’s interestingly timed after his recent interest in UFC 300 and Feldman’s meeting with Dana.

Thanks for reading!

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POLL POSITION

Last Week’s Results:

Friday: 85% of 641 total votes answered “No” when asked, “Do you want to see Tony Ferguson keep fighting?”

Thursday: 58% of 377 total votes answered “UFC Mexico” when asked, “Which is the better event this weekend?”

Wednesday: 64% of 453 total votes answered “Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodriguez” when asked, “Who wins this weekend?” Brandon Royval defeated Moreno via a split decision in UFC Mexico’s main event while Brian Ortega defeated Rodriguez via a third-round submission (arm-triangle choke) at 0:58.

Tuesday: 79% of 515 total votes answered “Yes” when asked, “Will Islam Makhachev challenge for UFC welterweight gold at some point?”

Monday: 43% of 470 total votes answered “Meh” when asked, “Are you happy with UFC 300’s main event?”

Today’s exit poll:

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