Following a unanimous decision win over Diego Silva at Cage Titans 47 in January of 2020, bantamweight Jay Perrin was looking forward to building off of the victory and having a big year when things quickly derailed that idea.
With the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Perrin has spent 20 months waiting to get back to fighting.
“It really sucked because last year I wanted to fight four times,” Perrin told MMAWeekly.com. “That was my goal; to fight at least four times and then see where it went. Obviously Covid happened and that put me in a hole like the rest of the world.
“I think it kind of stops a little bit of your momentum; you’re going into it off a win and you’re a little bit recharged; but looking at the bright side of the break we all had is I got to rest my body.”
Though he hasn’t been fighting, Perrin has been working on his game the whole time and is looking forward to showcasing the things he’s developed since the last time he stepped into the cage.
“You get certain opportunities in training to measure yourself against people that are considered elite or high level, and you go hard with them, and you know what to expect from those type of people, and you measure yourself next to those people,” said Perrin.
“I use those (opportunities) as a measuring stick to see how far the gap really is between me and the really high level elite people. The growth has been tremendous. I’m more cerebral. My game hasn’t changed so much, but the application of how I use my weapons is a lot better.”
On September 17 in Hartford, Connecticut, Perrin (9-4) will look to add another title to his resume when he faces Josh Smith in a 135-pound championship main card bout at CES 64.
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“I feel like I’ve fought more dangerous, more threatening opponents than him,” Perrin said of Smith. “More opponents with more tools in their toolbox that have threatened me; I don’t think Josh stylistically doesn’t match up well with me.
“I don’t see this being a five round war really. I’ve trained with some of the best in the world. I don’t know what he’s been doing, but I know what I’ve been doing six days a week. I don’t see me running through him; he’s going to give me a good challenge; but I’ll solve the puzzle by mid-second and end it in the third.”
While Perrin doesn’t know what exactly the rest of his year will hold for him, he is determined to have at least one more fight before 2021 ends.
“I would say no matter what, win, lose or draw I’m going to fight again in 2021,” said Perrin. “I’m not going to look past this guy or expect anything from it, because if I learned anything from my Contender Series experience is that even if you get to a certain stage and do well the world really doesn’t owe you anything. You just keep it rolling and don’t have expectations of things.
“If I win this belt we’ll see what happens after that. But I’ve got to win it first, so I’m going to keep my eyes on the prize for now, and after that we’ll see where it goes.”
Jay Perrin: ‘I don’t think Josh Smith matches up well with me’ in CES 64 title bout
