'Everything went black' - I fought Jake Paul and Michael 'Venom' Page but nobody hit harder than 'Handz of Steel'

Mike Perry has slugged it out with several powerhouses during his punishing career in boxing, bare-knuckle boxing and MMA.

His iron chin has stood up to big shots from Vicente Luque, Eddie Alvarez, Michael ‘Venom’ Page, and Santiago Ponzinibo, while he has only ever been stopped by strikes on three occasions.

Perry fought Paul last year in his second pro boxing boutCredit: Esther Lin/MVP

Two of them were in boxing. The first came at the hands of the unheralded Kenneth McNeil in 2015 and the second was a sixth-round stoppage loss to Jake Paul last year.

Between his two boxing knockouts, there was also a TKO loss to Geoff ‘Handz of Steel’ Neal at UFC 245 in December 2019.

Early in the first round, Neal caught Perry with a huge head kick that sent Perry reeling backwards against the cage.

Neal pursued Perry like a man possessed and reigned down heavy kicks and punches to close the show.

While Perry admits he rarely feels punches until after his fights, Neal’s kick left a lasting impression.

“I mean, I guess the hardest I’ve ever been hit was probably Geoff Neal kicking me in the face,” he told talkSPORT.com.

“He then followed up with some more punches and kicks to the face.

“It was that kick. I remember that kick. When he kicked me everything went black and white and it was like a dream.

“I saw him and I was like, ‘F*** that’ and I kept moving and I tried to get out of the way and he followed me across the ring and hit me a few more times.

“And then next thing I know, I was in the back and I was like, ‘I am ready, I was like damn, I’m so ready. Let’s, let’s go’.

Neal is the only man to stop Perry with strikes in MMACredit: Getty

“And my team’s like, ‘It’s over man’ and I went ballistic
“I was like, ‘No f***** way, I’ve got so much energy. I’m so ready’.

“And it was over. So Geoff kicking me, landing that kick on my face, that was probably the hardest I’ve been hit. It was a good kick.”

Perry chose not to re-sign with the UFC after his contract expired in 2021.

Instead, he opted to put pen to paper on a lucrative multi-fight deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), worth a reported $8million.

He has since gone on to become the promotion’s biggest star, boasting an undefeated 5-0 record, with destructive wins over Alvarez, Page, Luke Rockhold, Julian Lane, and Thiago Alves.

At the time of writing, he is the No.2 ranked middleweight in the world behind BKFC champion David Mundell and is expected to fight for the title next.