Oct. 4 cannot come soon enough for BKFC 82 headliners Mike Perry and Jeremy Stephens.
Perry and Stephens have gotten into each other’s faces before, but they had never been as heated as they were at BKFC 80. The athletes were present at the event in Hollywood, Florida, and briefly faced off in the ring before needing to be separated after almost coming to blows one month early.
The trash talk was nothing new, with Perry calling Stephens “easy work,” and the latter calling back to his dominant win over Eddie Alvarez in January. Stephens appeared to touch Perry just as the camera shifted to a bird’s-eye view, igniting a fiery reaction from ‘Platinum.’
I CANT WAIT! PERRY vs STEPHENS OCT 4 in NEWARK! #BKFC82 | Exclusively on DAZN pic.twitter.com/7buAFDBZG8
— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) September 13, 2025
Perry and Stephens were surrounded by over a dozen guards and officials, who all prevented the altercation from increasing any further. It still took four men to detain Perry, who was visibly irate.
The two former UFC stars have less than one month before they will be allowed to engage with each other in the ring. Both fighters are undefeated in bare-knuckle boxing and will throw down for Perry’s ‘King of Violence’ title in Newark, New Jersey.
Perry and Stephens both seemed to calm down by the time they spoke to reporters at the BKFC 80 post-fight press conference. They returned to being respectful of one another, though Perry still said he believes that Stephens’ head is not entirely in the game.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Perry and Stephens’ face-off stole the show, but BKFC 80 delivered for fans who witnessed the event in Hollywood, Florida. Eight of the 10 fights ended with a knockout, with headlining stars Leonardo Perdomo and Yoel Romero picking up big victories on the main card.
Perdomo and Romero were two of the biggest favorites of the event and delivered accordingly. Perdomo, the No. 1-ranked heavyweight contender, ended his rivalry with Arnold Adams in the main event with his ninth first-round stoppage victory in as many fights.
Romero made his BKFC debut in a featured bout on the main card. The former UFC title challenger delivered on all his expectations, securing a second-round knockout victory over fellow debutant Theo Doukas.
BKFC 80 was the first significant event of a crucial period in the promotion’s calendar. The BKFC scheduled seven major events in nine weeks, all around the country, beginning with Friday’s fight card in Florida.
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