Last weekend, on the main card of the UFC’s latest trip to Nashville, Tennessee, rising welterweight “Platinum” Mike Perry scored a veritable knockout of the year contender over the veteran Jake Ellenberger. This win – which marks his first over a ranked UFC welterweight – sets him up for more big tests inside the UFC welterweight division.
He’s got some ideas to that end.
On Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio, Perry expressed interest in a fight with former welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves, who recently returned to the division with a dominant defeat of Patrick Cote. From there, Perry listed off a few more options for his next fight.
“There’s lots of fights [I’d be interested in],” he said. “I’m right ahead of Thiago Alves [in the rankings] and I’ve been a long-time fan of his, and I think that that would be a crazy fight that the fans would like.”
advertisement – continue reading below“Also, there’s guys ahead of me, like Saffiedine—I believe it’s Saffiedine,” he continued. “There’s a couple weird names. There’s [Kamaru] Usman, there’s Gunnar Nelson. I’m just going up the list. There’s Neil Magny.”
Perry then discussed Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone as a possible opponent, though he admitted he’d prefer somebody riding a win.
“Cowboy Cerrone, I mean whatever,” he said. “I’d fight him but he’s coming off losses too. I’d rather get a winner.”
While he would prefer a ranked welterweight riding a win, however, Perry assured he’s not turning anybody down, even if he’s offered an unranked opponent:
“Yeah, unless they want to do to me what I just had the chance to do,” he said. “Give someone else who’s not ranked yet an opportunity like I just had. That’s up to them.”
“I’m not saying ‘no’ to any of the fights they offer me.”
Who would you like to see “Platinum” Mike Perry fight next?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/26/2017.