Mike Perry expected to return to BKFC at first event in Philadelphia
Mike Perry is nearing his return to bare-knuckle fighting.
Following a brief crossover to boxing for a showdown against Jake Paul back in July, Perry is being targeted for his next fight in BKFC at the promotion’s first event in Philadelphia in December. Pennsylvania just recently sanctioned bare-knuckle fighting and BKFC president David Feldman is wasting no time bring an event to his home state.
“It was like a kid in a candy store,” Feldman told MMA Fighting after getting word that Pennsylvania was sanctioning bare-knuckle fighting. “It was like I get to do this in my home state. We’re targeting a mid-December date for our first show. Huge show in a huge arena.
“It’s going to be great. Mike [Perry] and we’re talking to Eddie [Alvarez] about coming back for another fight. It’ll be a super, super stacked card. We actually have some current really good professional boxers that have been hitting us up. It’s going to be stacked. There’s no doubt in my mind we’ll sell every single seat in the biggest arena in Philly. No doubt in my mind.”
Perry last appeared in BKFC back in April when he dispatched UFC veteran Thiago Alves in just 60 seconds to move his bare-knuckle record to 5-0. He didn’t have as much luck going against Paul in the boxing ring with Perry suffering a sixth-round TKO loss but now he’s returning to BKFC where he’s arguably become the face of the entire promotion.
Feldman says he couldn’t imagine a better fit than bringing Perry to Philadelphia while teasing another big-named opponent for the upcoming fight.
“I’m working on Mike’s opponent right now,” Feldman said. “If I tie that up, I think everybody’s going to be like ‘oh shit, really? How did you do that?’ It’s going to be amazing. I’m targeting to be the biggest card we’ve ever done as the homecoming. Everybody’s excited about it.”
“Philly is a working-class city. Mike Perry is a working-class guy. He’ll fit in very well with the fans there. He’s that kind of guy. We’ll get Conor McGregor to come to the event and just take it over the top. It’s literally going to be unbelievable.”
Of course, McGregor became a part-owner in BKFC back in April and he’s made several appearances at recent events while drawing interest to the bare-knuckle fights.
The date for the Philadelphia card is currently targeted for either Dec. 13 or Dec. 14, and Feldman has another surprise in mind with a big football game taking place that same weekend.
“We’re targeting the weekend where the Eagles are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Feldman said. “So we’re going to do some Pittsburgh versus Philly guys on the card, too, so that’s going to be great.
“That show’s going to be sick. It’s going to be unbelievable. It’s going to be the biggest moment of my professional career absolutely, that will be unbelievable.”