Mike Perry is willing to cross the line during his face-offs with with Michael 'Venom' Page in a bid to make things more "nasty".
Former UFC star Perry will make his second bare-knuckle boxing appearance against Bellator's Page in promotion BKFC's first London show at the SSE Arena in Wembley on August 20. The American star will be looking to add a second victory to his new career path, having dropped and outpointed bitter rival Julian Lane in a brutal and bloody clash back in February.
At a previous press conference for his fight with Lane, Page brandished a baseball bat and threatened his opponent before the pair were held apart by a sea of security. Despite tensions being considerably lowered at his recent press conference with Page, Perry hints he may cross the line again despite admitting he must try and act professional.
"I don't know I would like to get a little more aggressive with him," Perry told Mirror Fighting in an exclusive chat. "I would like to establish my dominance and really put a stamp on how this is going to go but that is tough with weigh-ins and face-offs and something like that.
"But we are very professional and we have both been in the fight game a long time, what is too much and what is too disrespectful? But I definitely want to go too far and cross the line, and I want to get mean, nasty and dirty and that is how I want the fight to be. I want it to be a grimy, dirty scrap and he wants it to be smooth and easy but everything in life isn't sunshine and rainbows.
"It is going to be nasty and we will see, we have both been getting more into it since we met at the press conference back in London. We have been getting into these interview talking about how we will embarrass each other and what we are going to do to each other. But I am just so much more aggressive than him and I can't wait to prove what I want to do."
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'Venom' Page will make his first appearance in BKFC after signing a contract to compete in the ring alongside his recent Bellator exploits. The British star r ecently lost in his last MMA appearance against Logan Storley by split decision and it could certainly play a factor on affairs if Perry is able to establish his powerful style.
Despite his rival being expected to be roared on by a British crowd, Perry believes both himself and Page are the sternest tests of each other's careers so far. "Coming off of a loss he is obviously trying not to do that again," Perry continued. "But I think both of us are now each other's toughest fight so far and that we are ever going to have.
"We have been building up to this and it is not really going to matter in terms of wins, losses and past and present it is all about the now and when we are in there. It is good that the last thing happened to him was a loss because that is where his heads at right now. Maybe he is doing the same training as he did before, and maybe he thinks he just fell short and he needs to keep at doing the same thing.
"What I am doing is working and succeeding so I have just been adding to that and I feel like I am in a winning mindset. What feels like winning to me is feeling great and I make sure whatever I am doing I am prepared to do it to the maximum."