Perry, one of knuckleboxing’s biggest stars, said he is moving on with the sport. “Platinum” plans to focus on MMA in the near future.
Mike Perry explains his decision to retire from bare-knuckle boxing after the success of BKFC
Perry (15-9) left the UFC in 2021 after his contract expired, having compiled a 7-8 promotional record. He then switched to bare-knuckle boxing and became the marquee attraction of the BKFC, winning Michael Page, Luke Rockhold, Eddie Alvarez and Jeremy Stephens.
Perry’s last BKFC appearance was a win over Stephens in October 2025. He has since competed twice in MMA, losing
Nate Diaz before losing Brandon Jenkins. Now he plans to continue competing with gloves.
“That bare-knuckle stuff is like a cheat code and those two-minute laps…” Perry told Ariel Helwan. “I had a good time. It was fun. I made a little noise doing it. And I’m ready for a new challenge. I think MMA is in my near future and I’ll do my best… I did my thing there and now it seems like we’re going the other way. I think it’s gloves for me.”
Mike Perry
confirms he’s moving on from BKFC: “That bare-knuckle stuff is like a cheat code… I was good at it. It was fun. I made a little noise doing it. And I’m ready for a new challenge. I think MMA is in my near future and I’m going to give it my best shot. I did my thing there and I think it’s different now.”— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
October 20, 2026