Mike Perry intrigued by bare-knuckle matchup with Justin Gaethje after UFC 324 win, jokes ‘I don’t want to pick on small people’

Mike Perry vs. Justin Gaethje in a bare-knuckle fight would be one of the most insane combat bouts someone could put together.

Of course, Gaethje is once again UFC interim lightweight champion after defeating Paddy Pimblett in the main event of UFC 324 this past Saturday. Perry, who is preparing for his Dirty Boxing’s next event, DBX 5 tonight in Houston, watched the matchup and truly enjoyed what both fighters brought to the table.

“It was a great fight,” Perry told MMA Fighting. “I even said [watching it], Paddy was showing great heart and will. He wanted to try harder, he just didn’t have the tools that he needed to beat Gaethje. And it’s interesting, I thought because, you know… I guess Chandler and Gaethje had a tougher fight versus Paddy vs. Chandler, but that’s MMA math.

“And then, Gaethje, I knew he had some tough stuff. I wasn’t sure what type of Gaethje we would get, but when it came to those hands, his boxing is sharp, and he’s a pretty strong striker, and he gets that interim title.”

In Perry’s most recent BKFC bout, “Platinum” stopped Jeremy Stephens via TKO in Round 5 to retain his King of Violence title and remain unbeaten in the promotion.

Some of the criticism Perry says he’s received is that he’s fought fighters that are typically lightweights—such as Stephens and Eddie Alvarez—but also has wins over UFC welterweight Michael Page, who has two octagon bouts at middleweight, former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold, and past UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves.

But after watching Gaethje compete against Pimblett, Perry couldn’t help but be intrigued by what a BKFC matchup would look like between he and Gaethje.

“It’s wild, someone of Gaethje’s talents, he’s never made it all the way to the top, let alone me,” Perry explained. I never got the interim, but I did get the King of Violence, so I’ll take that, it’s different. Who knows? Maybe if he doesn’t go for that undisputed [title], depending if someone’s going to vacate, then he would fight again for the undisputed title. Against whom, we’re not sure. I know Arman’s up there, things like that.

“But, you know, maybe Mike Perry vs. Justin Gaethje in bare-knuckle? Oh, he’s [155]. I’m sorry, I don’t want to pick on small people. I don’t know, man. I’ll be getting ready. I’ll be getting prepared to fight this year, man. I’m excited to do that. Gaethje and Paddy had an exciting show, and Paddy still had a good message after. People, just talk to somebody [if you’re going through hard times]. That’s good stuff. Life has enough pain, so you don’t want people close to you taking themselves away.”

While Perry awaits his next opponent, he’ll be taking his Dirty Boxing promotion to Houston for DBX 5, which is headlined by an inaugural women’s bantamweight title fight between UFC veteran Jessica Rose-Clark and Paula Bittencourt.

What likely awaits Gaethje is a unification bout with the undefeated Ilia Topuria, who became a two-division champ by capturing the lightweight title with a brutal first-round knockout off Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 this past June.

Perry was asked how he sees Gaethje’s chances in a matchup with Topuria.

“Well, Ilia did come up [from featherweight], which means a little bit lighter fighter,” Perry explained. “Anything can happen. Either one of those guys could win. Gaethje could win, but Ilia has been sharp and I see all the memes, that they didn’t want it to be Gaethje, and like it’s videos of Ilia knocking out his opponents. Ilia is a sharp dude. He’s got good power punches, good knockout power, and good wrestling and wrestling defense, so.

“It’s not like Gaethje’s going to be trying to take him down, but Gaethje did have some defense to Paddy’s grappling, I think that’s why we didn’t see Paddy grappling. Gaethje could keep the fight where he wanted it, just in boxing range. That’s a good matchup though, for sure.”