Conor McGregor was forced to eat his own famous words as Mike Perry made his notorious quote his own days after the UFC legend threatened to fire him this week in Newark.
The Irishman claimed that he would be publicly sacking Perry in the ring at the Prudential Center in case of a defeat to Jeremy Stephens in his comeback fight. But the ‘King of Violence’ champion showed his tenacity as he put his rival down six times en route to a knockout victory in the fifth.
Immediately afterwards, BKFC co-owner McGregor made his way into the squared circle where he posed for photos with Perry and the pair took part in a friendly interview. The Irishman then briefly faced off with the bruiser, admitting he wants to face him in the sport after his final two UFC fights.
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Conor McGregor and Mike Perry agree tentatively to fight after BKFC 82
While the fight that Conor McGregor wants to make between Mike Perry and champion Dave Mundell did end up taking centre stage, the headline seems to be an agreement for a future bout. For years, the Irishman has taken shots at his ‘King of Violence’, and they shared a brief, if friendly moment tonight.
McGregor noted that watching bare knuckle boxing live makes any fighter want to take part, at which point he declared he would like to fight Perry in future. He noted that he has two UFC fights left, before a brief little face-off with the night’s big winner.
“How could you come here and see this live and not want to take part?” McGregor asked during the post-fight interview after Perry had quoted his famous ‘apologize to absolutely nobody’ line from a decade prior in his opening comments.
“I for sure want to take part in this so I’m lining this up. I know I’ve got to do the little face-off and all of that, say the quotes and this and that. I see maybe why you don’t want to fight Mundell for the world title…
“But it’s not even about the disrespect. I have the height of respect for you and I’d love to do it with you one day for sure. So it’s congratulations.”
Conor McGregor had threatened to fire Mike Perry had he lost at BKFC 82
The vibe at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference was much different from the friendly an respectful showing that the Irishman had with Perry after the fact.
Early in the presser, McGregor said he was ‘undecided’ on who wins between McGregor and Perry. But moments later, he created headlines when he told the former UFC star he would be sacked from the promotion if he lost.
“We made you,” he declared. “Who made you can break you. Who built you can kill you. You’re fighting for the world title if you get through this. Otherwise, you’re f—— nothing. If you don’t perform, you’re gone.
“If you don’t perform, you can go and do all these Mickey Mouse fights that no one gives a f— about. [Fights] that’ll generate nothing, and we won’t give a f— here at bare knuckle.”