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“I’m Always F***** Hurt. I Don’t Care”- Ex-UFC Star Confessed to Joe Rogan About His “Pain” Amid Recent BKFC Success

Published 08/03/2023, 9:38 AM EDT

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Joe Rogan has some of the best conversations on the internet. His friendly, non-judgmental demeanor and the casual and conversational tone of his podcast help guests relax and open up on his $200 million dollar podcast. This is why his Joe Rogan Experience podcast is the biggest in the world.

Rogan had another great conversation with bare-knuckle fighter Mike Perry, who is a UFC alumnus. On Episode 141 of the JRE MMA Show, Perry shared his life after the UFC and the changes he has gone through since.

Mike Perry tells Joe Rogan what changed for him

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Perry had an ordinary UFC career before leaving the promotion in 2021 after his contract expired. He joined BKFC the same year and embarked on a bare-knuckle boxing career. He is unbeaten in his three bare-knuckle fights so far. His last opponent was former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. 

Rogan asked the Michigan native what changed for him as he seems to have come into his own since leaving the UFC. Perry talked about his family and how his concern for them spurred him to push himself and stop making excuses. He also credited David Goggins as a source of motivation. He also spoke poignantly about using his pain to put him in a mindset where he couldn’t be hurt. 

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I have a family, I love them so much. And you know I’m a human. I f*** up; I make mistakes and shit, but I know I don’t give up. I keep going and I push. And I took, you know, David Goggins type s***, you know, it’s like I stopped making f*** excuses, and I was like, you know, cause I’m hurt all the time. I’m always f***** hurt. I don’t care. I’m like, all right, f*** it. I gotta wake up every day and feel this f*****. You can’t f**** hurt me because I’m in enough pain. No one cares about your problems or anything, so just handle your business,” he told Rogan.

Rogan and Perry also discuss a host of other topics in the podcast including how bare-knuckle boxing differs from traditional boxing.

Joe Rogan and Mike Perry talk about differences in bare-knuckle boxing and boxing

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Joe Rogan also asked Perry about the differences between bare-knuckle boxing and MMA or boxing. The former UFC welterweight explained that the main difference between boxing and bare-knuckle boxing is the gloves. Gloves cover a wider area than bare fists and provide a bigger guard against punches. But without gloves, the guard can only protect a much smaller area. The other difference he brought up was that one has to keep their hands tight at all times. In boxing, fighters tighten their fists at the last moment when hitting their opponents. On the other hand, in bare-knuckle, fighters keep their fists tightly closed or risk breaking their hands.

“[A] lot of time with boxing gloves, your hands are like open and you try to close it at the right time. ‘Cause if you’re squeezing your fists, it’s a little harder to move, you’re kinda tense. But in bare-knuckle, you have to learn how to move while you’re tense and keep your hands close. Because with gloves, you can block a shot like this but in bare-knuckle, you gotta be closed up, tight, and squeezing your fists so hard so that when you hit them you don’t destroy your hand,” Perry told Rogan.

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Mike Perry was not the best fighter in the UFC. But, he is becoming a bare-knuckle star and may be at the vanguard of UFC fighters going into bare-knuckle after they’re done with their MMA careers. What do you think about Mike Perry’s comments to Rogan? Tell us in the comments section below.

Watch This Story– Conor McGregor squares off with Mike Perry at BKFC 41

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Written by:

Kanishk Thakur

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Kanishk Thakur is an MMA writer at EssentiallySports. A graduate in political science from Delhi University, his love for writing and MMA made him want to be part of telling the story of the sport. His journalist mother and love for philosophy and research inculcated a staunch rationalism in him, and the need to substantiate every statement he makes with good evidence.
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Edited by:

Anuj Jacob