“I’d like to take this chance to apologize to absolutely nobody,” BKFC menace Mike Perry echoed Conor McGregor’s iconic quote after a terrifyingly dominant win against Jeremy Stephens. But he had to pay a dear price for the win, which came in the 5th round after 6 brutal knockdowns.

That fight has reignited urgent concerns about brain trauma, specifically CTE. The undefeated bare-knuckle champion and former UFC welterweight doesn’t seem much bothered by those concerns, however.

Mike Perry claims to outrun CTE in Conor McGregor’s promotion

Mike Perry and Mac Mally, on Overdogs Podcast, addressed the nagging concerns of brain trauma that have been the constant reality for bare-knuckle fighters. While it’s impossible to ignore the risk of developing CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, that isn’t at the top of Perry’s concerns.

“I keep running faster than the CTE,” Perry sarcastically nudged the medical threat, to which Mally quickly countered. “I don’t know, it might get you one day. I don’t know how many more BKFC ones you got, but that Jeremy Stephens fight was a wild one as well,” Mally recalled the spine-chilling bout, raising a red flag.

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However, Perry is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, questioning the degree of risk involved in bare-knuckle fighting compared to other disciplines, including MMA and boxing. He is convinced that, despite his brain trauma, he can thrive in BKFC. He believes that the promotion is safer than boxing.

“I think I’m pretty clean, man, mentally. I’ve seen kids. I think I’ve seen young boxers with 150 fights,” he took a direct hit at boxing, which consists of gloved blows and sheer grit.

Perry argued that the CTE risks are higher in combat sports like boxing, since gloves allow fighters to absorb more strikes. The argument is that a bare-knuckle fighter is tend to result in fewer strikes to the head. The bouts are also bound to end sooner than a boxing match with the cuts and scars, and as a result, less chances of brain trauma.

“That’s the beauty of MMA, actually is with small gloves, finishing fights, you know, like a dirty boxing or even they say bare knuckle is safer because you’re not just taking that impact,” Perry shared.

While it’s true that CTE develops over repeated brain trauma and near-concussive hits, with boxers on the worst end of the equation, fewer hits don’t neatly translate into lower CTE threat. In fact, one explosive bare-knuckle punch can be equally neurologically damaging.

In fact, McGregor-owned BKFC is filled with instances of knockouts from only a few punches that resulted in severe trauma. But that was not the case at BKFC 20.

BKFC took a fighter’s life in a nauseating instance

One of the most cautionary tales in the BKFC was the Justin Thornton vs Dillon Clecker heavyweight bout at BKFC 20. The initial fight was over in the blink of an eye. With Thornton falling face-first to the mats, knocked out cold within 18 seconds, his health progressively worsened.

After getting escorted from the ring by a stretcher, Thornton’s official Facebook page confirmed a spinal cord injury, resulting in partial paralysis. While he battled the injury for several weeks on a ventilator, that single-punch KO proved fatal, with Thornton passing away just months after the trauma.

While history hasn’t repeated yet in the BKFC, this fight serves as a reminder of how quickly things can turn ugly in combat disciplines that discard protective gear.

What do you make of Mike Perry’s confidence in the bare-knuckle fighting scene? Is there some truth to his assertion, or is he setting himself up for terrifying CTE risks in the future? Comment below.