Mike Perry defeated Luke Rockhold in the second round with a series of body shots during their third BKFC appearance, prompting Perry to ask for a staredown with Conor McGregor.
It turns out Mike Perry was made for bare-knuckle fighting. In his third appearance in the BKFC ring, Perry didn’t have an easy night at the office but he still found a way to pour on the punishment to stop Luke Rockhold inside two rounds. The end came after Perry actually unloaded with a series of body shots but Rockhold paused the action to get the referee’s attention. Rockhold pointed to his mouth as if perhaps he suffered a broken jaw, but that was enough for referee Dan Miragliotta to stop the contest with the end coming at 1:15 in the second round. The win moves Perry to 3-0 in BKFC with the biggest win of his career now coming against Rockhold.
Afterwards, Perry wasn’t all that interested in calling out his next opponent at first but instead asked for a staredown with UFC superstar Conor McGregor, who was in attendance at the card in Denver. “He had me afraid,” Perry said about Rockhold. “I’m here, we did it. It’s over now and I guess I should get ready to go again soon. Could I get a faceoff with Conor McGregor? That would be legendary.” It was actually a friendly faceoff as Perry and McGregor exchanged compliments in the ring before Perry turned his attention towards a former opponent also in the crowd. “[Donald] Cerrone come in here and give me my arm back,” Perry said. “Maybe we can fight and then after I beat you, then I’ll beat Conor McGregor.”
It was quite a conclusion for Perry, who looked right at home as arguably the new face of BKFC with another stunning performance on Saturday. In signature form, Perry was all aggression as he charged forward while Rockhold was looking to use his reach advantage by keeping his opponent on the end of his punches. A stinging straight left hand landed by Rockhold had Perry on rubber legs momentarily as the former UFC middleweight champion surged ahead to look for the knockdown. Perry recovered quickly and then returned the favor as he popped Rockhold in the mush and that wobbled him just before the opening round ended.
As the second round got started, Perry came after Rockhold with a barrage of punches as he closed the distance and just started unloading with shots in succession. Perry was doing a ton of body work as he just punished Rockhold’s midsection with some thudding punches that reverberated throughout the arena. The fighters eventually engaged in the clinch, which saw the referee come to break them apart and that’s when Rockhold signaled that something was wrong with his mouth. He pulled out his mouthguard and pointed to his lip and it was clear he could no longer continue. It wasn’t necessarily the jaw-dropping knockout that Perry wanted, but if it turns out that Rockhold actually suffered a broken jaw, he more than did the damage worthy of the stoppage. Perry has been nothing short of a star for BKFC since first arriving in the promotion and with this latest win, he will likely earn another marquee opponent and perhaps even a title fight in the near future.