Mike Perry Claims He Derailed Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor Trilogy

For years, fans have been calling for a trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. But according to Mike Perry, he is the reason that matchup has been pushed aside – at least for now.

Perry, the BKFC “King of Violence” champion, is scheduled to face Diaz on May 16 at MVP’s first MMA event, which will stream live on Netflix from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Diaz recently revealed that before agreeing to fight Perry, he had also been discussing a possible return to the UFC. In the end, his comeback came down to two options: facing Perry on Netflix or completing the trilogy with McGregor in the UFC.

Perry believes his success since leaving the UFC in 2021, combined with McGregor’s long period of inactivity, played a major role in Diaz’s decision.

“It feels great; I kind of snatched that one from under McGregor,” Perry told MMA Junkie and other reporters during a scrum following an MVP press conference on Wednesday. “I've been over there at bareknuckle getting all the fights while he's been talking on the sidelines, not fighting anybody, trying to piggyback off my hard work. So the fact that I took out the trilogy. Nate didn't want to fight a dangerous weakling like McGregor. He said he's on one f*cking leg. He said he's either out of the door or he's going to revitalize his career by stepping back in there and beating on somebody. I'm not worried about that. I'm looking to beat Nate and then get all the opportunities that come with that.”

Perry believes he brings a level of danger that would not have existed in a third fight between Diaz and McGregor. At 34, Perry is six years younger than Diaz and expects to push a relentless pace from the opening bell. He questions whether Diaz can still handle that kind of pressure at this stage of his career.

“I think he maybe knows he's in trouble,” Perry said. “He's getting older. He's had a long road in this game, as have I. With my youngness – you know, I'm a lot of years younger than him – my strength and power, my aggressive style. To bring that to him, he knows I'm coming at him. To get the opportunity to face a Nathan Diaz before he decides to leave the game, I'm going to give the fans the fight they want.”