"We thought we were getting another deal with the UFC" - Mike Perry's manager reveals that 'Platinum' signed with BKFC because the UFC was 'taking too long'

Mike Perry recently parted ways with the UFC. Malki Kawa revealed that the promotion's delay in setting up a deal for Perry prompted the jump.

While in conversation with The Schmo, Kawa revealed that Mike Perry wanted to re-sign with the UFC after fighting out his contract.

However, the fact that the UFC could only offer Perry a fight sometime in 2022 was something of a deal-breaker for 'Platinum'.

"Fought out his contract. We thought we were getting another deal from the UFC, they told us that they loved him. It was taking too long. They weren't going to have a fight with him until later next year. And we said, 'Hey, being a pro, I can't make the other pro wait. Because then The Schmo won't interview him and if there's no interviews then business is no good, and if there's less money there's even more problems,'" said Malki Kawa.

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Malki Kawa claims Mike Perry is passionate about bare knuckle boxing

Malki Kawa revealed that Perry's move to BKFC was not his first experience with bare-knuckle boxing. He revealed that Mike Perry had visited training sessions, and although he did not like it at first, he came around soon enough.

"I think he was a boxer at heart at first. He loves boxing. He went to a bare knuckle fight once. When he saw it he was like, 'Ah this s**t is dumb.' Then he went to an actual event and saw it and he fell in love with it and he told me, 'One day, I'm going to be doing bare knuckle boxing.' That day just came a little sooner than we thought," said Malki Kawa.

Mike Perry's last outing in the octagon came to an unfavorable end at the hands of Daniel Rodriguez via unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 23 in April. The bout marked his fourth loss in his last five fights.