Skip to content

White: Perry 'obviously needs some help'

Ethan Miller / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Dana White said Friday it's clear Mike Perry needs professional help after a video showed the UFC welterweight punching a man at a Texas restaurant earlier this week.

"I saw this coming in the last several months with Mike Perry," the UFC president said, according to MMA Fighting. "All you have to do is watch his interviews, watch the way that he's interacted with (the media).

"He literally said in an interview leading up to his last fight, 'I hate all of you. I hate the media, I hate the fans. You guys want to stay stuff to me on Twitter, then walk up to my face and try to be nice to me. I'm telling you, don't walk up to me when you see me in the streets, don't touch me, and don't say hi to me.'"

"(Perry) obviously needs some help," White continued. "That's not normal behavior. He's gotten a lot more angry and agitated in the last - but you see this happen with guys and girls when they start to get a little bit of fame, when they start to get famous."

Perry was charged with Class A assault, a misdemeanor, after Tuesday night's incident, but he wasn't arrested.

The UFC said in a statement Thursday that Perry admitted to "some issues related to alcohol abuse" and will seek substance and behavioral counseling. The promotion won't offer Perry any fights for now, and the UFC will evaluate the 28-year-old's next steps after he completes the treatment program.

White added that Perry "needs to make a few changes in his life, and we're gonna do everything we can to help him."

"Platinum" most recently stepped into the Octagon in late June, defeating Mickey Gall via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Hooker in Las Vegas.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox