Although Conor McGregor has been out of the octagon for some time now, BKFC star Mike Perry believes there is a chance the Irishman will get back into the cage to face him.
Since an injury that occurred in a bout with Dustin Poirier four years ago, along with multiple assault charges, McGregor has been away from the game. “The Notorious” was initially slated to face Michael Chandler, but he sustained an injury and kept pushing the matchup, avoiding a return to the cage. According to Mike Perry, all that might change soon. McGregor is not only a UFC icon but also a co-owner of BKFC, and he has often hinted at making an appearance. Now, it seems that appearance might happen sooner than expected.
During the BKFC 82 press conference, David Feldman revealed that McGregor will most likely face the winner of the upcoming bout between Mike Perry and Jeremy Stephens.
“Yeah, Conor’s done great promoting with the company,” Perry told MMA Fighting while promoting Friday’s DBX 3 event in Miami. “I’m very happy to have been involved and had brought him in the ring, back in April [2023], and to get to fight him, for him to be able to get back in the ring again… and I get it because I wasn’t getting a fight. Jeremy was like, ‘Oh, that’s why he hasn’t been booked, because they can’t get the right fight. No one wants to accept the fight, the right people don’t want to accept or whatever.’
“But once I really dug in and got on my diet real hard, I mean, they were telling me all year I was going to fight, but maybe I wasn’t committing myself properly, and I just feel like with good faith, I started wanting to be my best self regardless of the competition.
“Once I got in line and I did that for a couple of weeks, the calls just came, and then we got booked. To fight Conor would be incredible because I know that he does get the itch, and I know he’s very busy and he’s put himself in a great place in life where he doesn’t need to fight. But you can see the desire that he has.”
For now, Perry is focused on facing Jeremy Stephens and putting his opponent down, as he feels it will be an easy win. After what he expects to be a victory, Perry doesn’t see any reason why McGregor wouldn’t step into the cage with him.
“There’s something that interests him about bare knuckle, other than the fact that other big names in the fight game – whether it be boxing or MMA – they look at bare knuckle and they’re like, ‘I don’t really wanna do that,’” Perry explained. “There’s real, real big money in it. And for Conor to come get a huge money offer on the table, against the top bare-knuckle guy like myself, I think it would just be fun for all parties involved.
“Everybody knows Conor’s got good hands. I mean, Eddie landed some shots on me. I don’t know, he was a little bouncy that night. He was moving [well] at that weight class. Conor toasted Eddie, no problem, that night in the UFC [for the lightweight] title to double champ it.
“I think we’re in for a good fight on Oct. 4. That’s what matters right now, and I’m going to keep building myself up, and if I make enough noise and put on a great enough show and performance, I think the possibilities of Conor coming in and fighting could be very real, and we just take it a day at a time.”
Mike Perry has found incredible success with BKFC, including stoppage victories over former UFC champs Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez, along with a win over current UFC fighter Michael Page. McGregor, on the other hand, has had an eventful couple of years since his hiatus from the cage, visiting the White House and even hinting at the possibility of running for Ireland’s presidency. The fighter is yet to confirm any of Perry’s statements as he has his sights set on making an appearance at the UFC card set to take place at the White House.
