BKFC president discusses Mike Perry's move back to MMA full-time

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Mike Perry has been the face of bare-knuckle fighting for several years while making waves in BKFC, but recently the former “King of Violence” said he’s ready to put the gloves on again and return to MMA full time. While Perry didn’t take any parting shots at BKFC on the way out, his decision was still shocking considering how much working with the promotion helped to transform him from a well-known name to an absolute superstar. Add to that, Perry’s aggressive, knockout heavy style felt built for BKFC, but now the two sides have parted as he gets ready to return to MMA on a full-time basis. For his part, BKFC founder and president David Feldman promises there are no hard feelings with Perry’s exit, and he can’t blame him for apparently receiving an offer to return to MMA that was just too good to pass on. “I think he got a great offer he couldn’t refuse, or that’s what I was told he got a great offer he couldn’t refuse,” Feldman told MMA Fighitng. “Look, this isn’t talking bad about Mike Perry. He did a lot of great stuff for our company but we know that homegrown talent is doing it now. We sold 14,000 tickets at Fenway Park without any big names on there. We intend to sell 18,000 tickets in Philadelphia without any huge names on there and we intend to do the same thing in Miami [for KnuckleMania VII]. I’m not going to say we don’t need him, but the money that it costs to bring Mike Perry back to BKFC, doesn’t make a lot of sense for us right now. That’s how I’m trying to say it is. “I wish him the best. I didn’t listen to that interview, but I don’t think he said anything bad about us. I don’t think he has anything bad to say about us. I think we revitalized his career. Now he has a chance of doing something in MMA he wants to do. From what I heard, he got an unbelievable offer and that should be announced pretty soon.” Feldman added that the door is open for Perry to return to BKFC in the future if he decides he wants to do bare-knuckle again or if this rumored deal somehow falls apart. “If he didn’t [receive that offer] there is a chance of him coming back here,” Feldman said. “There was no problem with the organization. It’s just a matter of the direction that he’s going now and the direction that the company is going in now. “Unless it’s an unbelievably huge name, I want to focus on building guys from the ground up. I’m putting my time, effort and money into building these guys because they’re proving now that they can carry the company.” That said, Feldman admits he still holds out hope to book a fight between Perry and Darren Till because that remains the one huge, marquee matchup that got away. “We would love that fight,” Feldman said. “That would be a great fight for us. But if we don’t get that fight, there’s other fights out there for these guys. Like I said again, I wish him the best and he’s going to go out and make some really good money.” Ultimately, Feldman is proud of the work BKFC did with Perry and he hopes the now former bare-knuckle fighter finds success elsewhere in his career. “No animosity at all,” Feldman said about working with Perry. “If he’s getting a life-changing offer, like I said, then it is what it is. At the end of the day, I’ve got to protect the company but at the same time I’m not going to overpay for something I don’t think we’re going to get a [return of investment] on.”