With his hated Mike Tyson fight postponed to November, while “Iron Mike’s” body desperately tries not to shatter into a million pieces, Jake Paul will meet MMA veteran turned bare-knuckle star, Mike’ em Perry during their original date on July 20.
Perry (0-1 boxing, 14-8 MMA, 5-0 bare-knuckle) made an instant name for himself in the UFC with a combination of hellish knockouts and a mental state that could best be described as “two feet to the left of reality.” However, Perry’s technique soon deteriorated to the point where he lost seven of his last 10 for the promotion and was split following a decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez in 2021.
A year later, Perry focused on bare knuckles, which seemed to be his destiny all along. His current streak has seen him upset vaunted striker Michael “Venom” Page, change the teeth of former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, defeat former Bellator champion and UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, and most recently stop Thiago Alves in April of last year 60 seconds.
On paper, it is the most hazardous of Paul’s (9-1, 6 KO) MMA achievements. Although he competed in the Octagon at 170 pounds, he fought more than once at the MMA middleweight of 185 pounds, so he shouldn’t be much smaller than Paul compared to the likes of Tyron Woodley.
Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KO), who is scheduled to rematch Katie Taylor in the November gala, will still be busy with her fight with Stevie Morgan (14-1, 13 KO). Morgan’s streak of six consecutive first-round knockouts is undermined by the fact that four of her Colombian victims have recorded a combined 43 stoppage defeats.
Tony Aguilar (12-0-1, 4 KO) also met Corey Marksman (9-0-1, 7 KO) in a delayed rematch from the February draw.