Dillon Danis pulled out of Duel Arena’s inaugural event in Orlando, Florida, due to a gruesome cut on his arm. But it’s not only ‘El Jefe’ who is currently dealing with the fallout. His opponent, Mike Perry, is also feeling the impact of Danis’ withdrawal, as he has had to accept a significant pay cut to face replacement opponent and former UFC fighter Brandon Jenkins on August 29.

First reported by Ariel Helwani, the prominent MMA journalist revealed on X that Mike Perry had accepted a staggering 50% pay cut. Later, the 34-year-old himself addressed the situation and confirmed that the promotion had indeed slashed his purse for the upcoming fight as a result of Dillon Danis pulling out of the event.

“Without the other famous guy, I’ve got to take a huge pay cut, a massive pay cut to take this new fight, which you would think, as a professional athlete, accepting something in the last second is going to give you more, rather than much, much less,” Perry told MMA Fighting. “But the goal was preparing to bring violence to my city in an entertaining way.”

Mike Perry did not confirm the 50% figure initially reported by Helwani. However, ‘The King of Violence’ made it clear that Duel Arena had significantly reduced the purse he was originally set to receive for the Dillon Danis matchup.

Although Perry’s situation may sound unfair given that Danis’ withdrawal was through no fault of his own, the financial terms of replacement fights can depend on the agreements between fighters and promotions, all negotiated at the last minute.

In this case, Dillon Danis was the opponent who brought additional star power to the matchup, while replacement opponent Brandon Jenkins, despite being an experienced fighter, does not have the same profile, nor the same fan intrigue. That difference could affect the commercial appeal surrounding the event.

Though it is relatively uncommon for a fighter’s purse to be reduced after an opponent withdraws, there have been similar situations in MMA before, including in one very well-known fight.

Back in 2017, Tony Ferguson actually complained about the UFC cutting his pay after Khabib Nurmagomedov withdrew from their highly anticipated bout at UFC 209 due to a weight-cut-related illness. Michael Johnson ended up answering the promotion’s call to replace ‘The Eagle’ and fight Ferguson. However, ‘El Cucuy’ ultimately rejected the matchup and later told Megan Olivi that the UFC offered him significantly less money to fight Johnson than what they had initially offered for Khabib.

Despite the drama surrounding his next fight, Mike Perry will still fight Brandon Jenkins at a reduced purse, with the matchup now shifted to middleweight. Still, the Michigan native remains skeptical about Danis’ injury and believes the timing raises questions.

Mike Perry doubts Dillon Danis suffered his injury yesterday

Though Dillon Danis has probably suffered one of the nastiest injuries of his life, Mike Perry has a tad bit of suspicion about it. He feels the timing of the injury seems highly questionable, citing ‘El Jefe’s’ interview with Sean O’Malley and his coach Tim Welch, where Danis’ wrist appeared visibly healed to him.

Plus, Perry’s doubt grew even further when his now-scheduled opponent, Jenkins, started posting about fighting him around the same time Danis suffered the injury to his hand.

“My reaction was, ‘How? When?’” Perry told MMA Fighting. “Because as you can see on his interview with Sean O’Malley and Tim Welch, his wrist is healed up, but I don’t know when that injury happened. He may have told someone, even saw three days ago that my new opponent was posting he’s ready to fight this weekend in case anything happens.

“This was three days ago. No one wanted to let me in on it. So did he know before that? Obviously, this happened to Dillon not yesterday. This happened whenever it happened. OK, if it’s an injury that’s going to keep him from this fight, he’s probably going to still end up wrestling Arman if that goes through. But it’s kind of f–ked up, like he never planned on doing this, and it makes me think this was always their plan.”

To be fair, Dillon Danis was initially scheduled to face Arman Tsarukyan on October 3 at RAF 14 in a grappling match. That bout has now been postponed to October 23 because of Danis’ injury.

Regardless of Perry’s doubts about when the injury occurred, Danis’ reported cut would likely have required medical clearance before he could compete. With such a significant wound, it would have been difficult for the 33-year-old to simply proceed with the scheduled matchup without approval.

That said, with the Perry vs. Danis grudge match facing yet another setback, it remains to be seen whether their long-running rivalry will finally get the chance to be settled inside a cage, ring, or some other combat-sports enclosure.