ABU DHABI – Dana White isn’t surprised UFC welterweight Mike Perry has come to this, but said he’s willing to help.
Wednesday, a video surfaced of an agitated Perry (14-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) striking an older man with his fist in a restaurant altercation following a heated argument. One day later, the UFC issued a statement announcing Perry will seek help and that the promotion will not offer him any fights until he does so.
Friday, MMA Junkie asked White for his thoughts on the incident and his promotion’s statement. White said he was not surprised by Perry’s actions.
“I saw this coming the last several months with Mike Perry,” White said. “All you have to do is watch his interviews. Watch the way he’s interacted with you guys. He literally said in an interview leading up to his last fight, ‘I hate all of you. I hate the media. I hate the fans. You guys want to say stuff to me on Twitter and then walk up to my face and try to be nice to me. I’m telling you. Don’t walk up to me when you see me in the streets. Don’t touch me and don’t say hi to me.’ He said that leading up to that last fight. He’s a man of his word, apparently, and here we are today.”
So where does Perry go from here? White indicated the UFC welterweight is in desperate need of help. The UFC president also attributed Perry’s pattern of erratic behavior to struggling with how to handle recently found fame – and the social media comments that come with it.
“He obviously needs some help,” White said. “That’s not normal behavior. He’s gotten a lot more angry and agitated. You see this happen with guys and girls when they start to get a little bit of fame. They start to get famous. I have a blast on social media. You see a lot of people who don’t have fun on social media. There are some horrible things that are happening to people in dealing with social media. Everybody deals with it differently.
“I love criticism. I love whatever you want to call it that goes on on social media between fans and media and all that stuff. I’m built that way. He’s definitely not built that way. He’s definitely a guy that should probably stay off social media. He needs to make a few changes in his life. We’re going to do everything we can to help him.”
UFC 251 takes place Saturday at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Dana White not surprised by Mike Perry incident: 'I saw this coming the last several months'
