This past Saturday night at UFC 255, Mike Perry (14-7) fought on the main card when he took on Tim Means (31-12-1, 1 NC). Perry has made headlines outside of the octagon for all of his troubles.
Those troubles include domestic violence accusations and a bar fight where he knocked out an old man. Still, Perry finds himself competing in the UFC‘s welterweight division. However, he messed up again last week.
After taunting Tim Means a week before the fight while eating cheeseburgers, Perry missed weight by 4.5 pounds. He wasn’t even close and normally this is something that infuriates UFC President Dana White.
Once the fights were over, I was expecting White to be more of a critic of Perry. However, White said in the post-fight press conference that Mike Perry is entertaining. The UFC 255 contest with Means was very entertaining.
In the first round, Perry was able to get Tim Means to the ground and get his back. The next two rounds were completely on the feet with Means getting the better of the exchanges. However, Perry did land some bombs and the fight was fun to watch.
What does the UFC do with Perry?
Now that the fight is over, we can start to think about what’s next. In reality, Mike Perry has been a PR nightmare for the UFC this year. In addition to that, he’s just 3-6 in his last nine fights inside the octagon.
I really do enjoy watching Mike Perry compete in the octagon. As Dana White said, he’s a ton of fun to watch. I also believe that Mike Perry has a lot of talent. He’s just got some issues he really needs to work through.
He needs to get himself in a good camp and he needs to take fighting more serious. While he’s entertaining, nobody can look at Mike Perry right now and say he’s a serious contender in the UFC.
I think the promotion needs to have a serious intervention with Perry. They need to be blunt about him getting his life together. If he can’t show that he’s willing to take it serious, he has no business in the UFC.
There are so many contenders that are just itching to get their chance with the promotion. I don’t think the promotion will cut Perry, but I think they keep him on the condition that he straightens up. His leash should be extremely short with the promotion.