$25M Forces Conor McGregor to End Mike Perry BKFC Beef

“Hey Mike you’re released,” read BKFC co-owner Conor McGregor’s X update in the early hours of November 6 last year leading to a feud that seemed like one with no end. However, exactly 62 days later, on January 7, not only have emotions changed but so has the narrative, evident from a recent announcement. But before we get to that…

Let’s see what exactly happened between the two superstars. Well, it all boils down to a loss—and Jake Paul. On July 20 last year, Perry stepped inside the ring to fight Paul after the latter’s original plan to fight McGregor fell through. In the crossover boxing match, the King of Violence, weighing 170 lbs, very unceremoniously, lost to his 199 lbs opponent after he was dropped multiple times and faced a one-sided loss via sixth-round knockout. McGregor, didn’t take to this very lightly.

“And you can go and compete in your smelly dirty boxing championship thing, the smell of it, good luck. You’re fired,” the rest of his tweet read. He even reiterated the same in an interview on October that year: “Mike [Perry] is fired [from Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship], but we’re in negotiations. [Dave] ‘Redneck’ Mundell called him out. He’s been afraid of Mundell. We had to give him a little cherry-pick-made title, ‘The King of Violence’ or whatever you call it. But he was never a world champion. And he’s afraid of Dave ‘Redneck’ Mundell. He’s called him out now; let’s see what Perry responds.”

While BKFC founder Dave Feldman explained Perry—who is also a co-owner of the promotion—will be back, he also explained McGregor’s anger stemmed from Platnum unveiling his own promotion, Dirty Boxing Championship, a gloveless, hybrid-rules combat sports promotion, on July 19. But looks like Mystic Mac has finally decided to put the past behind him.

On January 7, McGregor shared a post on his Instagram Story confirming the same. The original post featured a tweet from Perry where he wrote, “I’m training, getting ready to face dangerous opposition bare knuckle ! Nobody wanted it, now they think it’s a game, everything happens for a reason. Let’s GO @bareknucklefc 🦾,” barely hours after Platinum had shared an interview by Feldman from X.

Making an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, the owner had said, “We’re going to do another one, a big show, the end of March, beginning of April. We’re working on it right now, and Mike will be back,” he said while confirming the fight will be against former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler (30-16-0). “We’re working on it. Yeah (it’s about getting the UFC’s approval), we’re working on it. Yeah (Robbie wants to do it), we’re working on it with the UFC. That’s a sick fight, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll know in two weeks and if it doesn’t happen then, then it’ll be someone else (for Perry) and then possibly (Lawler). But a lot of people are calling out Mike Perry now and it was good because this is actually the good thing about the Jake Paul fight because now everybody wants to fight him.But nobody wanted to fight him, they were scared to death of him but they’re forgetting this is still bare-knuckle, it’s not boxing, they’re not gonna box Mike Perry, they’re gonna fight Mike Perry,” Feldman continued, while addressing the McGregor-Perry-Paul situation in detail…

“He made money, I think. Pretty good money. I think that he built up this enigma of who he was with bare-knuckle, really like the world’s baddest man. The most violent person. The king of violence, right? And to go over to boxing for the payday, at the end of the day, I think it was a mistake…Look, he made money. It was a different sport…And some things happened where he announced his own promotion during that fight week, which didn’t make us very happy. So we were a little taken aback by that and that’s why there’s probably been a little pause [on his BKFC career]. But…we’ve talked to his management…to Mike. He’s been out to our events…he’s coming back.”

Notably, Perry made around $600,00 from the Paul clash. Having said that, Perry vs. Lawler is in the works for a 64-man tournament with a total prize money of $25 million. And the winner of the 2025 championship would take home a massive amount of $15 million. Exciting, right? But wait, there’s more! 

Top Comment by jvmill1976

I know this is the kind of money Perry can’t walk away from but I sure wish he could say...more

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During a conversation with the famed MMA reporter, Ariel Helwani, on his talk show, Feldman revealed, “It was $10 million [initially], and I was like, ‘It’s just not enough. It’s a lot of money, but when you spread it around the right way, it’s just not enough’ — $25 million was the [correct] number. I live like you jump off a building and you build a parachute on the way down.” Even though it began with a wild claim in a previous interview, Feldman and Co. seemed to have figured it all out.  

But when it comes to Mike Perry, the fight fans have been wondering if Conor McGregor actually fired him. Even though ‘Mystic Mac’ became a part owner of the bare-knuckle fighting promotion, Feldman was still the one with the decision-making authority. Let’s take a look at what the BKFC president had to say about it. 

Dave Feldman reveals the reality of Conor McGregor firing Mike Perry out of the BKFC

‘Platinum’  has remained without a fight ever since he lost to Jake Paul. This forced him to believe that he was actually removed from the fight promotion. During a previous episode of the Overdogs Podcast, he weighed in on him being away from action for so long. “I guess Conor really did fire me,” he speculated. But things were different from what we imagined. 

Feldman, during a recent interview with Damon Martin, revealed that Perry was set for a comeback in March 2025. The conversation regarding his comeback was already out in the open with Perry’s management team. And as far as McGregor’s tweet about firing ‘Platinum’ was concerned, the BKFC president said, “He’s coming back. But Mike certainly is with the BKFC. He got fired for…a couple of minutes there. But he didn’t really get fired. But he’s certainly with BKFC and he helped really turn the corner with us in certain ways and you know we are all about Mike Perry.” 

Perry’s fight against Robbie Lawler isn’t something that the fighting community didn’t previously anticipate. ‘Platinum’ had already called the 42-year-old former UFC fighter back in December 2024. Needless to say, it’s going to be a match packed with violent action sequences. But the concerns for Lawler are also pretty high. 

What are your thoughts on Mike Perry’s proposed bout against Lawler? Who do you think would win if the two clashed under the banner of BKFC? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.