Eddie Alvarez may have fallen short in his battle of wills against Mike Perry at BKFC 56, but the setback won’t stop his drive to continue pursuing bare-knuckle boxing.
“I love this. I do. I truly [do],” Alvarez said at the event’s post-fight press conference. “I came out here and I was my best self. My coaches loved what I was doing. I was on point, I was sharp. The lead-up to this fight was really good, I was sparring heavyweights, doing well. Unfortunately this sport is so volatile, you just don’t know. You could have the cleanest fight, and I think my orbital’s smashed up and that’s it, that’s all she wrote. It f****** sucks, man, because it was a good show. The fans won tonight. I didn’t win but the fans won.”
Alvarez, 39, stood toe-to-toe and traded punches with Perry for two brutal rounds in Saturday’s main event before his corner stopped the bout because of the mounting damage on his left eye.
The result moved Perry’s record in bare-knuckle boxing to 4-0 and saw “Platinum” crowned as the new “King of Violence” in BKFC. Perry has now beaten former UFC champions Alvarez and Luke Rockhold in BKFC, as well as one-time Bellator title challenger Michael Page, en route to emerging as the biggest star in bare-knuckle boxing.
And while Alvarez had his moments in the bout, “The Underdog King” couldn’t help but come away impressed by the resiliency his foe displayed over their two-round battle.
“I was surprised,” Alvarez said. “In sparring I land these shots on the bigger guys and I don’t know if I hurt my opponents pretty good, but with a bare fist I thought for sure Mike would go down. He didn’t. My hat’s off to Mike Perry. The guy’s a f****** battle ax. He can take a shot, he can keep plodding forward and give them. He reminds me of myself a lot, so I was fighting a little mirror of myself in there tonight and Mike was the better man. Look, I take my wins, I’ll take my losses the same way — with my head [held] high.”
“Tonight I dared to be great,” Alvarez continued. “I went up a weight class with Mike. I did, I really dared to be great, and I thought, with everything in me, I can beat a bigger guy, given my skill set, given his style. I’m not going back on anything. I thought I could beat Mike Perry tonight, bigger or not, and I didn’t. I came up short. And hey, this f****** sport, bro, that’s why I love it.”
Alvarez is now 1-1 in his foray into bare-knuckle boxing. He debuted in BKFC this past April with a thrilling split decision win over three-time UFC title challenger Chad Mendes.
Alvarez indicated on Saturday that he has every intention of fighting again, and when asked about an idea floated post-fight by BKFC founder David Feldman of running back a rematch against Perry in Alvarez’s native Philadelphia, the former UFC champ sprung to life.
“Oh man, that’d be a beautiful motherf****** thing, I’ll you that,” Alvarez said. “Hey, one more time, Mikey, please. Give it to me. You come to north Philly, you do me that favor, big dog.”
