Morning Report: Mike Perry says he fought Donald Cerrone for free, ‘might as well’ fight him for $100K

When Yancy Medeiros pulled out of his scheduled fight with Mike Perry a week before UFC 226, the UFC was left scrambling to find a suitable short-notice replacement, and, despite having just fought the week prior, Donald Cerrone did what he had done a number of times before for the UFC and offered to step in and fight. It was an offer made even more unexpected because Perry had just begun working with Cerrone’s camp, Jackson-Wink, and the two had trained together in preparation for their respective fights. Ultimately, the UFC opted to replace Medeiros with Paul Felder (who had also had a fight fall through at the time) but the idea of Cerrone vs. Perry stuck with them and is now set for the co-main event of UFC Denver.

Speaking with Submission Radio recently, Perry addressed the situation of fighting a former training partner, saying that there is no bad blood with Cerrone and that this is strictly business.

“Let’s get this money,” Perry said. “Let’s go. The guy was kind to me but the UFC does what they want. They want to set up a fight and I figure, s**t, a year or two from now somebody from Jackson-Wink probably gonna be trying to fight me so it is what it is. We fight, The question is, do you want to get this money or not? I fought his ass for free I might as well fight his ass for a hundred grand.

“I posted a picture of it today of me and him at UFC 202 media day. We knew back then that we were gonna fight some day so nothing to it but to do it.”

Perry met Cerrone at his UFC debut at UFC 202 but only recently made the move out to Albuquerque to start training with the fabled Jackson-Wink camp. During his time there, Perry says Cerrone was an excellent host but at the end of the day, this is the fight business and he wants the things Cerrone already has.

“He took me out shooting guns, he took me out surfing on his boat, it was really nice of the guy,” Perry said. “Now he’s probably like, ‘Wow, look at this a**hole, he’s gonna come try and fight me now and take everything I work for.’ But he’s had all this, all this money, all this time, and we in the fight business so I’m trying to get that. I’m trying to get a damn boat too! So if you got that money, you got that notoriety, I’m gotta get it. I’m trying to come take it so I can get me a boat so I can go surfing when I want.”

And his plans don’t stop there. Perry is aiming higher than just boat ownership, eventually hoping he will work his way up to a championship bout. “Platinum” thinks Cerrone is a big step towards making that dream a reality, which is why he wanted to take the fight, saying that a win over “Cowboy” puts him in line for a fan-friendly fight with another guy he recently sparred with,Darren Till, should Till comes up short in his title bid later this year. And if Till does win, then Perry is angling for a fight with the welterweight division’s least favorite fighter, Colby Covington. Either way, Perry says a win at UFC Denver puts him on track for a title shot down the line.

“I feel it’s gonna be a crazier version, a bloodier version of the Paul Felder-Mike Perry fight,” Perry concluded. “I think that depends on how I win. If I beat him with a vicious KO, that puts me top-15 and puts me in line for – if Till doesn’t beat Woodley, then when I beat Cerrone we’re looking at a Till-Perry fight, especially after the sparring. I know they want to see that. And if [Till] does [win], maybe one before the Colby fight or I could jump right to the Colby fight. If we go off of anger issues, Colby Covington is just a little b**ch and I’ll take that fight all day. But Till would be great out of respect and skill.”

Mike Perry takes on Donald Cerrone in the co-main event of UFC Denver on Nov. 10th.