Nate Diaz declares Mike Perry fight 'real BMF vs. King of Violence'
As the originator of the BMF title hijacked by the UFC, these words from Nate Diaz – probably a motto by which he lives – shouldn’t surprise you.
“Baddest motherf*ckers do whatever the f*ck they want,” Diaz said on Episode 2 of “MVP Uncut.”
That’s the energy surrounding the highly anticipated showdown between Diaz and fellow UFC veteran Mike Perry, which serves as the co-main event to Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano on the first Netflix live-streamed MMA event May 16 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
Neither Diaz (21-13) nor Perry (14-8) has competed in MMA since their UFC departures. For Diaz, that was September 2022 when he battered Tony Ferguson before submitting him in the fourth round at UFC 279. For Perry, you have to go back a little further to April 2021 when he lost a unanimous decision to Daniel Rodriguez at UFC on ABC 2.
Both men have remained active, though – Diaz in boxing, Perry in boxing and bareknuckle. Diaz followed up an August 2023 loss to Jake Paul with a win over Jorge Masvidal in July 2024, a measure of revenge from the original BMF title fight in November 2019. Perry also has experienced a boxing loss to Paul from July 2024, but where he’s really made a name for himself in the past four years is with BKFC. Perry is 6-0 and has become the face of the sport with wins over notables Julian Lane, Michael Page, Luke Rockhold, Eddie Alvarez, Thiago Alves, and Jeremy Stephens – winning and then defending BKFC’s King of Violence title.
“I think it’s great timing to come back and get an MMA fight,” Perry said. “I’ve been off killing it in bareknuckle boxing. I think it’s a good time for me to come back into MMA and throw some other people on their head and bring the ‘hellbow’ back to the MMA world.”
Given their backgrounds as two of MMA’s bad boys, Diaz and Perry are aligned in how they view their matchup.
“I think the real BMF vs. the ‘King of Violence’ is what you would want to watch,” Diaz said. “That’s a legit fight and the one to make, the one to see. We’ve got a fight on our hands. It’s the way I fight, that’s the way he fights, and if you want to watch a fight, it’s the one to watch.”
Said Perry: “The fight between me and Nate is what some people are calling the true BMF fight. I’m looking to land big punches and elbows on him, and damaging shots that are gonna put him away. I put my foot on the gas, and there’s one goal in mind – and it’s landing big punches on people’s faces.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry: ‘Real BMF vs. King of Violence’
