Mike Perry is open to a UFC comeback.
Since leaving the UFC in 2021, Perry’s fame and fortune have only grown, as he’s really found his lane in bare knuckle boxing. He’s become the face of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) and reigning “King of Violence.” In fact, he just extended his undefeated bare knuckle run to six straight victories, smashing Jeremy Stephens for a late knockout victory (highlights here). As a result of his success in bare knuckle, Perry was able to secure an extremely high-profile payday against Jake Paul … even if the match itself didn’t go so well.
Despite his success outside of the Octagon, Perry would like to return to the UFC under the right circumstances. Specifically, “Platinum” is down to come back at the UFC White House card, which is on track to be the biggest combat sports event of 2026.
“I would do MMA. I would go back to MMA,” Perry told MMA Fighting. “I want to fight on the USA, UFC White House card. Who’s more American than ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry? Let’s go. I need a little training, healing time because that was 12 weeks [of a training camp]. That was 12 weeks of performance on Oct. 4. I’ve got to get back in the flow of things.”
There may be a slight problem, however. Perry has grown accustomed to banking big paydays in his BKFC main events and Paul super fights, and that may be an issue for the stingy MMA promotion. Perry named his price to return at the White House, and his ballpark estimate of $2 million feels … unlikely, to say the least.
“Yeah that would be a cool one to do it on,” Perry continued. “Y’all got to pay me for that, too. But come on. Conor’s talking about $100 million to get on the White House card. We’ll give me a couple [million]. I’ll be good.”
There is precedent for a single bout return to the Octagon. Back in May, Stephens returned to the UFC for a single bout in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, and he definitely put on a show. Whether UFC feels it needs “Platinum” to help fill out its White House mega event, however, remains to be seen.
