BKFC president Dave Feldman says bringing Mike Perry back to bare-knuckle would cost more than it’s worth right now, and he made that case with a ticket count instead of a grudge.
Speaking to MMA Fighting after Perry confirmed he’s moving on from bare-knuckle to focus solely on MMA, Feldman was careful to frame it as a business call. “Look, this isn’t talking bad about Mike Perry,” he said. “He did a lot of great stuff for our company I’m not going to say we don’t need him, but the money that it costs to bring Mike Perry back to BKFC, doesn’t make a lot of sense for us right now. That’s how I’m trying to say it is.”
The evidence he offered was attendance. Feldman cited 14,000 tickets sold at Fenway Park and said he expects to move 18,000 in Philadelphia, both without one huge name on the card. His view is that the company’s local stars are now carrying the gate. He credited Perry for past work while saying homegrown talent is doing that job now.
That shift has a face. According to Bloody Elbow, Sean Weir sold more tickets than any other individual in BKFC history ahead of the promotion’s debut in Glasgow. Booking fighters with big regional followings has become the strategy since Perry’s last big moment, when he stopped Jeremy Stephens last year in a matchup that pulled plenty of MMA eyeballs.
Perry hasn’t fought for BKFC in over a year. He’s had two MMA fights this year, the most recent a loss to Brandon Jenkins in August. Feldman says both sides are better off this way, and he didn’t sound bitter about it.
The first thing Feldman said when asked about Perry’s decision was that the fighter got a “great offer he couldn’t refuse.” He added that he hadn’t listened to Perry’s interview but didn’t believe Perry had anything bad to say about the promotion. “I think we revitalized his career,” Feldman said. “Now he has a chance of doing something in MMA he wants to do. From what I heard, he got an unbelievable offer and that should be announced pretty soon.” No details of that offer have been made public.
My take: this is the most honest thing a promoter has said all year, and I respect it the way I respect a guy who tells you the horse is lame before you bet it. Feldman did the math. A crossover star at a crossover price is a premium you pay when you can’t fill the building otherwise, and if a local draw like Weir can set a company sales record on a debut card, the Perry premium starts looking like paying sticker price for a car you can lease for less. The risk sits on Perry’s side of the ledger. He’s leaving the place where he was the main attraction, coming off a loss in August, and the whole bet rides on an offer nobody has seen yet. Feldman’s number to watch is 18,000 in Philadelphia. If he hits it without a marquee name, the Perry question answers itself.
