Mike Perry open to facing Dillon Danis but ‘not a chance he’ll fight me in bare-knuckle’
Mike Perry continues to explore options for his next fight, but one name that’s come up lately is the always outspoken Dillon Danis.
The grappler and two-time Bellator veteran, who flopped in a disqualification boxing loss to Logan Paul this past December, has engaged in a back-and-forth with Perry on social media, fueling rumors that this could lead to a fight. Perry addressed the potential matchup against Danis on The MMA Hour after exchanging several messages over the past few weeks.
“Me and Dillon Danis been talking a little shit,” Perry said. “I don’t know, it’s been fairly innocent as far as I’m concerned. He’s posted a couple of things, I’ve posted a couple of jokes. The shit he’s posting is old and I’ve gone far above that and beyond. I’ve done some things in life and media slanders things as well.”
Prior to the success he found in BKFC, which has seen Perry become the face of the sport, he often saw his name in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, including a violent altercation at a restaurant in Texas and domestic violence allegations from his ex-wife.
Over the past few years, Perry has transformed into a devoted family man with a wife and kids, but he knew Danis would target his past to get his attention for a potential fight.
Things haven’t gotten too out of hand, and that’s probably better for Danis, who already faces a lawsuit from Logan Paul’s fiancée Nina Agdal after she went after him in court for online harassment. Agdal alleges Danis hacked into one of her social media accounts.
“As far as Dillon, we’ve been cracking some jokes,” Perry said. “We don’t really have an issue with each other, but I think he makes it fun when you fight him, if you fight him. If he’s going to fight me. I’ve been told by many that he may play like he will [fight me], but then he won’t. But he’s not coming at me in a disgusting type of way. He’s being real about some things that the media already put out there and may be four years old or so. I’ve got to live with that, that’s fine.
“I think I can try to make some jokes off of him. All you’ve got to do is Google someone’s name and you’ve got a bunch of funny memes right there.”
As far as the actual fight, Perry sounds interested in clashing with Danis, although he knows they’d have to come to some kind of middle ground on the type of matchup.
Danis is best known as Conor McGregor’s grappling coach, but he did cross over into MMA for a pair of fights in Bellator before returning to action for the first time in more than four years for the boxing match against Paul.
With a long résumé competing in MMA, including 15 fights in the UFC, Perry doesn’t mind returning to his old stomping grounds to face Danis, because he knows a bare-knuckle brawl would never happen.
“Not a chance he’ll fight me in bare-knuckle,” Perry said. “He thinks that’s not a real fight.
“Full disclosure, I would love to beat him in his own game. Well, not just grappling, I would prefer punches, strikes. Not just jiu-jitsu, it’s got to be more entertaining than just a jiu-jitsu match. MMA is a possibility. It just depends if they can make the connection. We’ve seen and we’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘I’m not going over there and fighting Mike in bare-knuckle.’ So I’m not going to sit here and say I wouldn’t fight someone another way.”
Perry hinted at other opportunities that have been presented to him lately, including a boxing match he declined against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the undercard of the upcoming Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson event in July. That fight just didn’t live up to his financial expectations, so Perry says he passed.
Of course, BKFC remains his top priority, but Perry promises he’s open for business and hopes he’ll fight sooner rather than later after scoring a 60-second knockout of UFC veteran and former BKFC champion Thiago Alves on April 27.
“We’re trying to get those things locked in and see what’s going to happen in the next month or two,” Perry said. “I should be back in the ring, giving the fans an entertaining performance here shortly. It might be under my favorite rule set. It might be under someone else’s favorite rule set, because they definitely don’t want to come over here and do what I’m doing.
“Some people seem to forget I know how to fight. I could fight in any way or I can win in any fashion, because the mindset that I’m training with, I’m bringing with my team with me and we’re all focused on the same path.”