Conor McGregor said he “fired” Mike Perry from the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) after his knockout defeat by Jake Paul, who also drew the ire of the UFC legend in an explosive social media rant.
Perry delivered a performance full of heart and incredible toughness and durability at Tampa’s Amalie Arena on Saturday night, stepping up to face Paul after the latter’s blockbuster showdown with Mike Tyson was postponed until November 15 due to a recent ulcer flare-up suffered by the heavyweight boxing icon during a flight.
However, the former UFC fighter turned BKFC star could not seriously threaten Paul despite his best efforts and was knocked down three times before the fight was eventually waved off in round six.
Such a display certainly did not please McGregor, a long-time rival of Paul’s who became a part-owner of BKFC earlier this year and had strongly backed Perry leading up to the fight.
The Irishman took to social media website X again after Perry’s defeat and claimed that ‘Platinum’ had been released and was now free to compete in his Dirty Boxing Championship promotion announced earlier this week.
“Hey Mike youre [sic] released and you can go and compete in your smelly dirty boxing championship thing, the smell of it, good luck. You’re fired,” wrote McGregor, who has not fought in the UFC since July 2021 after injury forced the recent cancellation of his match against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June.
McGregor also launched an expletive-laden rant against Paul, with whom he has regularly exchanged barbs over the years amid rumours over a potential boxing match between the pair.
Hey Mike youre released and you can go and compete in your smelly dirty boxing championship thing, the smell of it, good luck. You’re fired. @bareknucklefc
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 21, 2024
McGregor labelled Paul as the “biggest p**sbag I have ever seen in my life” before heavily criticising his performance against Perry.
He added: “Calling out 60year old Mike Tyson fresh off an in flight medical emergency? I swear to god, a fat can of b***h p**s. Most valuable p**sbag.”
Paul responded to McGregor’s latest jibes in his post-fight press conference in Tampa, saying: “That’s f****d up that he fired the BKFC champion.
“I told you that was gonna happen. I told you exactly what was going to happen, he was big upping his boy Mike Perry.
“I said, ‘Okay Conor, after I f**k up Mike Perry, then you’re next’. Conor is on Twitter all the time, he’s on his yacht all the time.
“Guess where he’s not - in the ring, fighting me. He can talk all the f**k he wants, but The Notorious MMA is scared of Jake Joseph Paul from Disney Channel.”
Paul then took a further shot at McGregor on social media, writing: “Mike Perry is a f*****g beast and has a lot more balls than that little leprechaun.”
