Mike Perry, one of the most polarizing athletes on the UFC roster went to Las Vegas last week to face fellow welterweight Mickey Gall. Perry, however, took the unconventional route of not having any coaches or cornermen in tow, well except for his girlfriend Latory Gonzales. something that the media and fans crucified him for in the leadup to fight night.
Perry was vindicated for his decision to forego the standard 3 people in his corner when he took home a unanimous decision victory against Gall in a fight which saw Perry dominate on the feet, which we all expected, but also on the ground, where Gall was supposed to have the advantage.
3 full rounds and we saw what may be the best version of Perry in recent memory. He was patient in his attack. He never let his opponent dictate the action, he was focused on the fight, and there was a calmness about him that we haven’t really seen from the man that personifies violence in action. don’t get me wrong, Perry unleashed big bombs on Gall, but he didn’t overcommit. He flowed with the action.
There were a few times where he barraged Gall, and many were waiting for a signature Perry KO, yet Perry instead backed out, regrouped, and continued to do good work inside the octagon on his way to a much-needed victory which ended a 2 fight losing streak for the Platinum one!
Post-fight, Perry gave the media his take on his girlfriend in the corner:
- “She did a great job, she kept it very simple. She shouted a couple of things during the fight and I remember telling myself, ‘okay, there you go, she’s getting into it now.’ And she was like, ‘Keep your hands up!’ There was that one time he swung and had just missed and she was like, ‘Get your hand back up,’ and I was like, ‘All right.’“In the corner, when she was rubbing the ice on me she kept asking me, ‘Hey, is this OK? What else do you want? What else can I do?’ And she was trying to do more for me and it was really cool just sitting there quiet and just thinking about how the next round was going to go.”
The quiet time for Perry between rounds seemingly allowed him to focus on the task at hand rather than listening to coaches whom Perry feels are busy “clout chasing”, worrying more about people knowing who they are and what they are doing instead of taking care of him which should be job one, as he is the one fighting! Perry knows how to fight, and he doesn’t feel the coaching helps him once the door to the octagon closes.
Perry also stated that he is looking for people to work with. He mentioned Yoel Romero by name as someone he wants to partner up with. He wants a “friend” type relationship rather than one of coach and student. Perry seems to be stating he wants to elevate with peers that are out there doing this work as he is, instead of being coached by those that aren’t.
When Perry took the mic for his post-fight interview he discussed all of the above and then decided it was time to vocalize his displeasure with the taxes he paid last year.
Christopher James has been in the MMA industry for 15 years, Working as a ring announcer for promotions like the XFC, Island Fights, Combat Night and Fight Nights Global during his career. Chris’ love for the sport and the athletes that partake in it led him to writing and doing face to face interviews with the athletes he admired and respected. Chris isn’t conventional by any stretch of the imagination, he has his own style, and takes pride in not being a “cookie-cutter” member of the media. Unique and sometimes controversial takes are what he brings to the table, forcing folks to think a little differently about the world of MMA. He also has a love for music as he has been a dj for 25 years and his love for music gets brought to the MMA world when he gets his guests to sing on his weekly show Cage Side with Christopher James which can be seen Wednesday nights on FACEBOOK LIVE, and soon via podcast.