Jake Paul was confronted by Mike Perry during the weigh-in on Friday, after which he launched into a tirade against UFC president Dana White and mixed martial artists, saying “they're trying to assassinate me” and “they don't want me in the sport.”
Paul's rage began when he pushed Perry.
“He flew about six feet.” Paul said in an interview with Ariel Helwani: Speaking on stage at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., he said, “But Dana White said if he could knock me out, he'd give (Perry) a UFC contract. Look, Dana, you know that? I'll give you a (expletive) out of your contract because I'm gonna beat the (expletive) out of Mike Perry. Whoever you come at me with, any of your MMA fighters, I'm gonna beat the (expletive) out of you.”
“They've been trying to assassinate me. They don't want me involved in the sport. They don't want me to be in the sport. They don't want me to run the sport, but trying to assassinate a guy like me only makes me greater. I'm on a mission from God, a mission from God, a servant of God to save the sport. And I'm going to keep doing just that. Keep winning, keep fighting.”
Paul has fought four MMA fighters – Nate Diaz, Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Ben Askren – and defeated them all.
Perry, who also competed in UFC before joining Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in 2021, pushed Paul back during the weigh-in, after which several security guards pulled Perry away from Paul.
“Everybody's trying so hard to protect him,” Perry said of Paul, “but tomorrow night, when it's just me and him in the ring, there's no one to protect him. He's going to go down.”
“You all know how hard those big guys worked to bring me back. I was pushing them around. I was moving them all. That's 1,000 pounds of pressure. I call it 'Platinum Pressure.' I'm gonna put it on him tomorrow night.”
Perry's trainer, James “JT” Taylor, told USA Today Sports he had no knowledge of a possible contract offer from White if Perry wins. A UFC spokesman did not immediately respond to voicemails and text messages seeking comment on the matter.
Jake Paul weigh-in
“Platinum” Mike Perry, also known as “The King of Violence,” weighs in at 196.6 pounds. He was knocked out in his only professional boxing bout in 2015, but is 5-0 in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
Paul, who has a 9-1 record with six knockouts as a professional boxer, weighed in at 200 pounds, the maximum weight allowed for a cruiserweight bout.
Words were exchanged before they pushed each other away.
“Why are you nervous?” Paul said. “I can see it in your eyes.”
“I'm excited,” Perry replied.
Perry suggested he wasn't worried about the weigh-in showdown.
“You can have all this,” Perry said. “I want the ring tomorrow. That's all I want.”
Paul replied, “Tomorrow you're going to eat the ring. Right out of your face.”
