Mike Perry said, “Screw it,” and kept the battle going after Dillon Danis bailed on their fight—and it ended up blowing up in his face. ‘Platinum’ had a disastrous night at the inaugural Duel Arena event in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday, suffering a brutal shoulder dislocation early in the first round against late replacement Brandon Jenkins. The injury handed Jenkins the opportunity to ramp up the attack, eventually leading to a first-round knockout of Perry.

Honestly, it stings even more when you consider what Mike Perry revealed just days before the battle. ‘Platinum’ was set to headline against Dillon Danis, but Danis pulled out due to an injury. As a result, former UFC fighter Brandon Jenkins stepped in on short notice, and Perry chose to roll with it rather than cancel the event entirely. And if losing the matchup he wanted wasn’t bad enough, the financial side of the situation made things even worse.

“It’s f—– up, man. It makes me think this was always their plan,” Perry said as he revealed on Thursday that he was taking a significant pay cut for the fight. “You’d think accepting something last-second would give you more, rather than much less.”

‘Platinum’ nevertheless followed through and made the walk. He came out aggressively against Brandon Jenkins, but his opponent’s spinning back elbow temporarily halted his momentum. ‘Platinum’ then landed a flawless left hand before disaster struck.

Mike Perry’s shoulder visibly separated as he held onto Jenkins with his left arm and tried to deliver right uppercuts. Yet incredibly, Perry continued fighting. Jenkins quickly took advantage of Perry’s injury, landing a brutal body kick that sent Perry to the canvas before swarming him with ground strikes.

The referee allowed the action to continue for a while before Jenkins eventually secured the stoppage at 2:38 of the first round. After the fight, medical personnel spent several minutes attending to Mike Perry and trying to fix his shoulder. Brandon Jenkins, on the other hand, walked away with the biggest victory of his career.

For a man who made his mark in the MMA world with a short-notice debut, being on the receiving end of such a bout truly feels tragic. For the unaware, when welterweight Sultan Aliev was forced out of his scheduled fight against Hyun Gyu Lim at UFC 202 in 2016, Perry accepted the call on short notice to make his highly anticipated UFC debut.

And well, ‘Platinum’ capitalized on the big stage, securing a first-round TKO victory. Fast forward to now, and this time it is another last-minute replacement who found his moment at the cost of Mike Perry’s flawless record of never being knocked out before.

For now, Mike Perry’s return timeline remains unclear, but what we do know is that this very fight surely earned him a lot of fans. After all, social media was quick to sympathise with him after watching the night unfold.

Fans react to Mike Perry’s brutal night after taking a pay cut

Many fans focused on the financial sacrifice Perry reportedly made to save the main event, only for the night to end with a painful injury and a first-round loss.

“Perry took a pay cut AND a dislocated shoulder just to get finished in round one. That’s genuinely tragic,” one fan wrote. “Just awful. Half the cash plus an injury, UGH!” another commenter added.

“So he took the fight even though they cut his pay in half for something that wasn’t his fault, and then he dislocated his shoulder. Got it!!!” a third fan wrote. “Only got half what he should’ve made 🤦🏽‍♂️,” another added.

“Nah, that’s even more brutal cause dude’s check got cut in half too 💀,” one more fan wrote.

Still, other fans couldn’t help but praise Mike Perry for continuing to fight despite the obvious injury.

“He was still fighting with that arm hanging off, man. He’s one tough SOB…!!” one fan wrote. “He’s 💯 psycho to be able to fight like that,” another commenter added.

“Have you ever dislocated a shoulder? It’s agonising, truly debilitating. If it was out, it’s amazing he lasted as long as he did,” another fan wrote. “Mike Perry is a true warrior! Throwing and doing clinching with a shoulder out of place is mad!” a fourth viewer added.

Ultimately, it was a nightmare ending for Mike Perry. He lost to an opponent he had spent weeks preparing for, accepted a late replacement while reportedly taking a significant pay cut, and then suffered a nasty shoulder injury before the first round was even over. Jenkins, meanwhile, leaves Orlando with a statement victory and a very different outlook on his next fight.