Max Griffin Comes Out On Top After A Bloody War With ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry At UFC Orlando

‘Platinum’ Mike Perry arrived in the UFC with a bang in 2016, brutally knocking his opponents out in all four of his wins with the promotion. In fact, every single one of his 11 career wins have come via violent KO. That fact, combined with his endlessly entertaining alpha male personality have made him a fan and promotional favorite.

After dropping his last fight to the much more experienced Santiago Ponzinibbio, the UFC went ahead and gave Perry a lighter challenge for his hometown fight in the scrappy Max Griffin (1-2 UFC). The match up was clearly made to elicit fireworks … and you could argue, with Perry a -370 favorite, another beaut of a ‘Platinum’ knockout highlight.

That would have been nice, but instead Max Griffin stayed outside of Perry’s range and outstruck him over three rounds for a 29-27, 29-27, 30-27 decision.

Alas, it’s not easy to keep that knockout train rolling as you progress in your MMA career and end up fighting harder and harder opponents. Perry came out chasing the KO with crazy power shots and ended up missing and being blocked, while Griffin forced Perry to chase him, landing effective jabs and counters with his 5 inch reach advantage. By the start of round 3 Griffin was outstriking Perry 76-17. Perry stayed dangerous in round 3, rocking Griffin at one point, but Griffin got on his bike and never stayed still for long enough for Perry to deliver a knockout blow.

Perry ended the fight literally running Griffin down and throwing wild, but clean contact and a finish eluded him. That led to the decision loss, which ‘Platinum’ fans will blame on Griffin refusing to fight. But we’ll have to see if Perry can evolve and get his knockout powers to spark in the kind of higher level fights he’s going to keep finding himself in with the UFC.