Mike Perry couldn't even take advantage. He had to sit there and watch everyone else do it for him.
"I get these buffet cards. You get a free buffet," Perry said. "My coaches use them. I can't even use them. I'm cutting weight."
It's a good thing there were other benefits available as he settled himself into Las Vegas, a few floors up and four days out from his UFC debut.
"It's the beginning of a dream come true," Perry told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. "They treat you so well. I feel like the greatest. ...They give you a per diem, so they're paying for you. You get a duffel bag full of clothes every time you walk in your room. The hotel room is beautiful."
The 24-year-old welterweight from Altamonte Springs, Florida, is a +230 underdog in his bout with Korean bruiser Hyun Gyu Lim, according to betting site OddsShark.com. It's not unusual for someone who has fought only once outside Georgia or Florida—unless you count that amateur bout in the Bahamas—and worked and partially trained at the UFC Gym in Winter Springs, Florida.
It is a bit out of the ordinary, though, for that debut to come on the pay-per-view main card of a major Las Vegas event. It came about thanks to Sultan Aliev's injury barely two weeks before his date with limb, forcing UFC matchmakers to scramble. With a little quick thinking and elbow grease, Lady Fortune smiled on Perry.
It's quite a coup for the young prospect. But as Perry spun his tale in a thick Southern drawl, it became clear he's staying in the moment by remembering what got him here.
"I plan to bring it," he said. "Show up and show out."
UFC has signed undefeated welterweight Mike Perry to replace Sultan Aliev vs Hyun Gyu Lim at UFC 202, per sources.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 4, 2016
And to think it all started with a screenshot.
"Someone wrote me on Facebook, asking about the UFC," he recalled. "I guess he was a manager or with management or something. So I screenshotted the message and sent it to my manager. ...Fifteen minutes later, he calls me and tells me. I kind of screamed a little bit. Like a weird scream."
Perry's stock in trade is the knockout. In fact, he has earned himself a 6-0 pro career—sorry, Mike, that Bahamas fight doesn't count—based entirely on his prowess in that area. All six of his wins came at the ends of his fists. He's only left the first round twice.
"I'm not afraid to get in there and get hit to give a hit," Perry said. "I'm cool with the battle part of it. Blood for blood."
Between them, Lim and Perry have earned 84 percent of their 19 wins by knockout. Is it the most glamorous fight on the UFC 202 pay-per-view? Nope. It may be the least glamorous fight on the entire card. But with stats like this, it's at least easy to understand why it's there.
Is Perry concerned about Lim's knockout power? On top of his willingness to batter, he said he may have another to neutralize the big Korean.
"I've heard of him, but I've never seen him before," Perry said. "I never saw him on [UFC] Fight Pass because I don't have an account...[But] he'll try to keep his distance. I think I'm the best in the world at getting inside. It's MMA, and I can push him against that wall.
At the same time, Perry's skills outside of his hands are unknown at best, and he hasn't exactly torn through top competition en route to this moment. In his last fight, he bested David Mundell at a show in Kissimmee, Florida, called Battleground MMA. His biggest win to date was probably a flying-knee knockout last November of Jon Manley at Premier FC 18 in Springfield, Massachusetts. You may remember Manley from his role as the semifinalist who lost to Colton Smith on season 16 of The Ultimate Fighter.
So, no, not a lot of great names on the hit list. Still, although Perry did train at UFC Gym, it's not his only training home. He's also spent time at American Top Team Orlando—also home to elite veteran Ben Saunders—and Fusion X-Cel in Ocoee, Florida. In July, he cornered ATT teammate and middleweight Alex Nicholson for Nicholson's win at UFC Fight Night 91 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Perry still realizes he's the underdog. But for now, he's just enjoying the buffets. Or at least his friends are. And he's certainly not afraid.
"F--k Lim," Perry said when asked for a fight prediction. "I'm going to kill him. I don't know. That's all."
Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more stuff like this, follow Scott on Twitter. All quotes obtained firsthand.
