Mike Perry says he’s done with BKFC, plans to focus on MMA

Mike
Perry sees his fighting future in mixed martial arts.

Perry, one of bare-knuckle boxing’s biggest stars, said he is
moving on from the sport. “Platinum” plans to focus on MMA for the
foreseeable future.

Mike Perry explains decision to leave bare-knuckle boxing after
BKFC success

Perry (15-9) left the UFC in 2021 after his contract expired,
having compiled a 7-8 promotional record. He subsequently
transitioned to bare-knuckle boxing and became a marquee attraction
in BKFC, earning victories over Michael
Page, Luke
Rockhold, Eddie
Alvarez and Jeremy
Stephens.

Perry’s most recent BKFC appearance was a victory over Stephens in
October 2025. He has since competed twice in MMA, defeating
Nate
Diaz before losing to Brandon
Jenkins. He now intends to continue competing with gloves.

“That bare-knuckle stuff is like a cheat code and those two-minute
rounds…” Perry told Ariel Helwani. “I was good at it. It was fun. I
made some noise doing it. And I’m ready for another challenge. I
think MMA is in my foreseeable future and I’m gonna give it my best
shot… I kind of did my thing over there and now it looks like we’re
going a different way. I think it’s gloves for me.”

Mike Perry
confirms he’s moving on from BKFC: “That bare-knuckle stuff is like
a cheat code… I was good at it. It was fun. I made some noise
doing it. And I’m ready for another challenge. I think MMA is in my
foreseeable future, and I’m gonna give it my best shot. I kind of
did my thing over there, and now it looks like we’re going a
different way. I think it’s gloves for me.“

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
October 20, 2026