Mike Perry Not Happy About Thiago Alves’ Last-Minute Withdrawal

Mike Perry discussed his dissatisfaction with Thiago Alves’ last-minute withdrawal from their fight at UFC Fight Night 116 in a new interview with MMAjunkie. Highlights are below:

On Alves pulling out of the fight at the last minute: “Sometimes, I’ve got to watch what I say, because I scare these guys away. I don’t know if I scared Thiago. I might have. They posted (my knockout of Jake Ellenberger) this week and said it was the ‘Knockout of the Week.’ He might have seen that and replayed it in his head.”

On not being happy about the withdrawal: “(Alves) took away the recognition I was going to get for fighting him.”

On facing Alex Reyes in Alves’ stead: “It’s a lose-lose for me. I’m giving this guy every chance, and I’m getting almost nothing from it. But I’m here to fight, so I’m happy to have a fight…He’s a black belt, and he must think that that’s good enough for him to come in here and exit this fight safely and out of harm’s way. But you lock that door with me, man, you all know what to expect.”

On wanting another shot at Alves: “If they called me and say, hey, we got this fight scheduled, call me short notice. Call me short notice. I’ll just cut the weight and get in shape. The long time is what’s making me upset. The long time that I took to prepare for this. I wanted to see that preparation unfold. I’ll still see it unfold, but it won’t be the same.”