Mike Perry planned to return to MMA to face Dillon Danis, may revisit after Jake Paul fight

Mike Perry hasn’t competed in MMA since his final UFC fight in 2021, but he was dusting off his old gloves for a potential showdown against Dillon Danis.

Prior to landing a boxing match against Jake Paul on July 20, the BKFC’s “King of Violence” was in talks to face off with Danis in a fight that would have taken place under MMA rules. That’s according to Perry, who explained that he would rather fight Danis in MMA after watching the former Bellator fighter land just 16 punches in a farce of a boxing match against Jake Paul’s brother, Logan.

“It’s interesting,” Perry said when speaking to MMA Fighting. “I was still looking at that Dillon Danis fight. That wasn’t going to be a boxing match because we all saw how he performed in boxing. I don’t want any excuses. I was supposed to fight him after I beat up Jake Paul but after I beat Jake Paul, let’s be honest, I could just chill out for a bit and let things unravel around me.”

Danis, a high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner prior to testing the waters in MMA, held a 2-0 record under the Bellator banner before he was released from his contract in 2023. He continuously teased his return to the sport but ultimately started pursuing fights in the influencer boxing world, first seeking out a fight against KSI before eventually clashing with Logan Paul.

Despite his activity on social media, Danis hasn’t fought in MMA since 2019, but he did engage in a war of words with Perry that led to real talks about a possible fight. While an MMA fight against Danis would require Perry to go back to his old stomping grounds, he was more than ready to do that because he knows most fighters wouldn’t actually consider facing him in a bare-knuckle brawl in BKFC.

“I was going to knee him in the face and elbow him,” Perry said about Danis. “If he gives up his back, I would have tried to go for the choke. Why not? I ain’t got a submission before, I like to punch people. I am very highly skilled in MMA. It might just be something that I take to the grave, those skills.

“I recently did an MMA round with Lyoto Machida and a couple other high-level UFC fighters, jiu-jitsu black belts and I’ve still got it. I’m very highly skilled in fighting, no matter what the art is but boxing is definitely something I prefer to practice on.”

Landing the fight against Jake Paul potentially changes everything for Perry moving forward, especially if he follows through with his prediction for a vicious seventh-round knockout.

No matter the result, Perry remains committed to BKFC where he signed a new long-term deal back in August 2023. Still, he’s not shying away from MMA or boxing if those opportunities are presented to him.

“I definitely owe BKFC,” Perry said. “I’ve definitely got to get back in there for them. They do have some plans to bring me back by the end of the year. They might already have an idea who that’s going to be and I go in there and perform against Jake Paul, the possibilities are endless. I could fight Dillon Danis in MMA and do a BKFC fight, all before the end of the year or just chill out and just wait and see what happens, end up fighting Anthony Joshua or something after I beat Jake Paul in boxing.

“We got Nate Diaz-[Jorge] Masvidal, who wins that boxing match [in July], it’s all respect from me. I have honor for the guys that have been at this game for a long time. That’s why Jake gets the bad rap he does because he just got here and he knows that, he understands that. He’s trying to pick better fights that can get him some recognition. That’s where I come in. This is my chance and my opportunity to stop this kid and show him what a real fighter is.”