John Kavanagh, who serves as the head coach for UFC stars like Artem Lobov, Gunnar Nelson, and of course, Conor McGregor, is famous for the expression “win or learn.” He even wrote a book with that title. The idea behind this expression is that, when a fighter enters the cage, there are two possible outcomes: they either win, or lose and learn from that loss. In the case of UFC welterweight knockout artist Mike Perry, this expression rings true.

Late last year, Perry experienced the first loss of his pro career, losing a hard fought decision to a crafty Alan Jouban. With this first defeat in the rear-view mirror, the welterweight slugger is determined to learn from the experience. The main thing he hopes to learn from this loss his how to win a decision when the knockout fails to materialize.

Perry explained this process during a Wednesday night appearance on BJ Penn Radio:

“I learned a lot from that fight with Alan Jouban,” he said. “It is recorded how it was recorded, but remember, it went to a decision. I’ve never been one with a style to win a decision, ‘cause I’d never been to a decision until now. I mean, I still don’t plan on going to any, but we’ve been [practicing] some point game techniques and getting my decision-winning abilities up there. So, no matter where the fight goes, no matter if they run and try to hide, or if they come to fight, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m obviously going to learn more from each fight, but the level that I was on when I reached the fight with Jouban, I’m way ahead of that now. It definitely did skyrocket me a lot higher.”

Do you think Mike Perry will be able to use these decision-winning techniques against his upcoming opponent Jake Ellenberger? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/23/2017.