Mike Perry entered mainstream MMA consciousness in a rather strange way. Though diehard fans had been aware of him for some time, his first steps into the limelight occurred at the UFC 202 weigh ins, when he faked a handshake with his opponent Hyun Gyu Lim, then pulled his hand away at the last minute, and screamed in Lim’s face.

While this move certainly served to get the attention of the MMA community, it did so in a rather negative way, as Perry was immediately branded  by many as a bit of a hot-head.

Apparently however, this strange move – along with all the subsequent bravado and trash talk that’s followed it– is part of Perry’s master plan to become MMA’s next big star. Perry knows how to get the public’s attention, and once he’s got their attention, he dazzles with his incredible ferocity in the cage.

He explained his process on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio.

“I remember somebody telling me, somebody that I know, saying that it was going to be hard to top that dodged handshake that I did with Hyun Gyu Lim on my debut. I ran with all that momentum. And I said, I don’t think that’s going to be hard to beat. I think I beat that when I beat Danny Roberts by knocking him out in the third round with 20 seconds left to go. Now it’s time for my fight performances to really surpass all the goofiness that I came in here with to get your guys’ attention. It’s all part of the master plan to take over the world and be the best fighter that you motherf*ckers have ever seen.”

Perry then explained that, fresh off an incredible knockout win over tough veteran Jake Ellenberger, he now expects to receive a real push from the UFC.

“Yes,” he said, when asked if he expects a big push from the promotion from here on out. “We’ll see how I perform next time. It should get even bigger for me now.”

Who do you want to see Mike Perry fight next?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/27/2017.