This is the BKFC 82 live blog for Mike Perry vs. Jeremy Stephens, the 175-pound main event for Perry\u2019s King of Violence title from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Perry (5-0 in bare-knuckle boxing) has established himself as the face of BKFC, with violent wins over fellow UFC standouts Luke Rockhold, Eddie Alvarez, Michael Page, and Thiago Alves. In his most recent outing in July 2024, Perry jumped into the world of pro boxing to face influencer-turned-fighter Jake Paul. He lost to Paul via TKO in the sixth round. He looks to reestablish himself in the BKFC ring when he takes on Stephens.<\/p>\n
Undefeated in three appearances for BKFC, Stephens can steal Perry\u2019s thunder with an upset performance Saturday. He battered Alvarez en route to a corner stoppage in January and aims to get back on the winning track after a one-fight return to the UFC this past May, when he lost a decision to Mason Jones in his home state of Iowa.<\/p>\n
Check out the Mike Perry vs. Jeremy Stephens live blog below.<\/p>\n
The main event is just around the corner now following Christine Ferea\u2019s brutal finish of Jessica Borga.<\/p>\n
The fighters are in the ring and set for a brawl that probably isn\u2019t going the full 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
Round 1: Gary Copeland on hand to referee the main event. Perry immediately lands a jab. He\u2019s throwing hard, walking the smaller Stephens down. Stephens CRACKS Perry with a right hand. That was definitely felt. Stephens with a good jab. Perry sticking some punches in Stephens\u2019s face. Another good right by Stephens. Perry rips the body. Glancing right by Perry. Heavy knuckles from Perry, Stephens keeping his defense tight. Stephens with two more hard rights. Jab down the middle by Stephens. Perry hits the body. Perry coming forward but Stephens isn\u2019t biting on anything. Uppercuts from Stephens to close the round.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Stephens.<\/p>\n
Round 2: Perry again immediately on the offensive. Stephens with a counter left, then a jab right in Perry\u2019s mush. Perry swinging big. He\u2019s bullying Stephens now, but a lot of these shots aren\u2019t landing. Plenty of volume from Perry as they trade punches. Left hand by Perry. He\u2019s challenging Stephens to keep up the pace. Jab from Stephens right on the beard, Perry answers with one of his own. Right hand over the top by Stephens. Perry with a combination and Stephens has to focus on defense. Perry telegraphs a right and it somehow lands. Short uppercut from Perry. Thrilling round.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Perry. Overall, 19-19.<\/p>\n
Round 3: Perry controlling the distance as he works over the body and keeps attacking with volume. Stephens not landing that right hand as consistently now. The extra weight looks like it could be slowing Stephens down. Left hand right on the money from Perry. Good jab from Perry. He rifles in a couple of uppercuts. Step-in jab hurts Stephens and he has to take a knee. He answers the count, but looks tired. Blood pouring down Stephens\u2019 face now.Perry in pursuit looking to finish. There\u2019s the round bell.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-8, Perry. Overall, 29-27 Perry.<\/p>\n
Round 4: Stephens just misses with his right as Perry advances. Perry cuts of the ring and lands a hard punch to the body. There\u2019s a right from Stephens. Perry with constant pressure, just pummeling Stephens from half Thai plum. Stephens hurt again and he takes another knee. He will continue. Left hand from Perry. Body shot by Perry, then an overhand right. Two-punch combo from Perry and Stephens down again. The round bell rings and you have to wonder if his corner lets him come out for the final period.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-8, Perry. Overall, 39-35 Perry.<\/p>\n
Round 5: Stephens is back out indeed and he pops Perry with a big right. So much guts from the longtime UFC veteran. Stephens lands another right, but Perry doesn\u2019t back up, and he pours on the offense. A Perry right sends Stephens to a knee. The fight continues with just over a minute to go. Another right just cracks the side of Stephens\u2019s head. He touches canvas again and he\u2019s immediately telling the ref he will get back up. Looks like he wants a breather. The fight continues, but not for long. Another Perry flurry drops Stephens and that\u2019s a wrap.<\/p>\n
Official result: Mike Perry def. Jeremy Stephens via fifth-round TKO (1:35)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is the BKFC 82 live blog for Mike Perry vs. Jeremy Stephens, the 175-pound main event for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,32940,52367,802,1347,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-190699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bkfc","11":"tag-bkfc-news","12":"tag-boxing","13":"tag-latest-news","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}