BKFC president says Perry shoulder injury clouds return after shock TKO loss to late replacement

Mike Perry’s Saturday night in Orlando turned from opportunity to setback after original opponent Dillon Danis withdrew from their Duel Arena bout, Perry accepted a last-minute replacement in Brandon Jenkins, dislocated his shoulder early in the opening round, and was stopped by a body kick and follow-up punches moments later.

The TKO loss leaves Perry facing an uncertain layoff, with the full extent of the shoulder injury still unknown. BKFC president David Feldman, speaking after his own promotion’s event at Fenway Park in Boston the same weekend, said he had yet to speak directly with Perry’s team but planned to do so shortly.

“Unfortunate for him,” Feldman said. “I do like Mike. The problem with taking a last-minute fight like that, the other guy Brandon Jenkins had nothing to lose at all. Nothing. So it didn’t matter. Mike’s shoulder popped out unfortunately for him and then he got kicked and then he got hit a few times and unfortunately he couldn’t defend himself. Very, very risky. When you’re at the top of the game like that, I don’t know if I was managing him, I would have done it. But it is what it is.”

Feldman has long expressed a desire to bring Perry back to BKFC, though the two sides have not yet agreed terms on a future fight. Perry had been building momentum after a high-profile win over Nate Diaz on the inaugural MVP MMA card in May before Saturday’s reversal.

“We’ll see what happens with him,” Feldman added. “I don’t know the injury, I didn’t talk to them yet. I will talk to his team tomorrow and find out what that looks like. Maybe they don’t know yet. But unfortunate for him, because he’s trying to build a great life for his family and unfortunate that he had to take a couple of backward steps.”

Despite the loss, Feldman indicated he does not believe a defeat in an MMA context would significantly damage Perry’s drawing power in bare-knuckle fighting. He suggested a matchup against Darren Till remains a viable headline bout, and that a return to BKFC could allow Perry to quickly move past Saturday’s result.