LAS VEGAS – Mike Perry is a changed man.
Adored by fans for his outside-the-cage antics and exciting fighting style, Perry enters UFC 245 fight week with new intentions.
On Saturday night, Perry takes on Fortis MMA’s Geoff Neal (12-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in the featured preliminary welterweight bout. Perry (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) said he’s evolved into a more focused fighter for this one.
“I’m trying to stay calmer than ever,” Perry told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “I don’t think I let the games I play get in my way. I try not to let them distract me. I try to stay focused on the task, which is getting the win. But I kind of got a no-nonsense type of opponent. So I’m going to bring that same mentality. It’s no nonsense.
“I really feel like it’s do or die this weekend. It’s life or death. It’s kill or be killed. So I’m very serious – which, it’s hard to be the fun guy when you’re feeling that way. I feel like my whole job is on the line. My whole life is on the line.”
Perry said the change in attitude won’t happen overnight, but he plans on taking baby steps until he gets there. Why the sudden change? Perry attributes it to a gruesome broken nose he suffered in his most recent fight against Vicente Luque in August.
“I’ve got to say the broken nose helped,” Perry said. “That maybe helped me take it more serious. It’s not like I wasn’t taking it seriously. … (But) this guy is out here training, trying to kill me. I’ve got to do the same – the pain and suffering. I thought I was going to be a hideous creature after my nose got separated.
“The mindset is I don’t want to let these guys hurt me. But at the same time that made me think, ‘OK, forget backing up. Forget trying to stick and move.’ I’m going to go forward. If I’m going to bleed, then I’m going to cover you in my blood. I’m going to bleed all over you. Because if I’m going to get hit, and I can take it, I might as well just go forward and show you you can’t push me back.”
Perry said the nose injury resulted in him feeling “more human” than ever. It’s not that he’s gained the ability to tolerate pain; Perry said he’s always had that.
What he gained out of the experience has to do with his attitude in persevering through adversity. Fans should expect to see a hybrid version of himself.
“You’re still going to get some of the old Mike Perry,” he said. “Some of the new Mike Perry. And then there’s going to be a totally different Mike Perry in there on Saturday.
“… (Expletives) are going to bleed. That’s for sure.”
UFC 245 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Mike Perry and the broken nose that made him 'more human' than ever