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Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images Michael Bisping says he would come out of retirement to cap off his trilogy with Luke Rockhold. Rockhold recently knocked out Joe Schilling in the third round at Karate Combat 45, which Bisping was doing a livestream event for on his YouTube channel. A few days later, Bisping addressed some fans asking him about doing a third fight with Rockhold to figure out who the better man is, once and for all. “Luke Rockhold, I was doing a live to [his fight], and everyone was like, ‘You’ve got to do the trilogy,’” Bisping said on Believe You Me. “I’ll do Karate Combat against Luke Rockhold. I’ll do it. “I’ll do it. I will have a trilogy with Luke Rockhold in Karate Combat. I would love to.” In their first meeting, Rockhold stopped Bisping with a guillotine choke in just under six minutes at UFC Fight Night 55 in November 2014. They would run it back less than two years later when Rockhold defended the UFC middleweight title against Bisping — who stepped in on short notice as an injury replacement for Chris Weidman — in the main event of UFC 199. After a fight week full of trash talk, Bisping delivered the performance of a lifetime, shocking Rockhold, and the MMA community as a massive underdog and captured the title via first-round TKO. The personal rivalry between Bisping and Rockhold has certainly changed over the years, but the competitive rivalry still seems to be there for Bisping. As his co-host Anthony Smith continued to push for the idea of the fight coming to fruition, the now UFC color commentator doubled down on making it happen. “This has gotten momentum a bit too quickly, let me just see my hip doctor first,” Bisping said. “I’m joking, [but] I’d do it. 100 percent, I would. ... “Yeah, well done to Luke [against Schilling]. Fair play, man, fair play.”

Devin Haney | Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images Devin Haney and Oscar De La Hoya aren’t on the same page when it comes to Ryan Garcia. “King Ryan” won a thrilling majority decision over Haney this past Saturday, rocking the WBC super lightweight champion and nearly scoring a knockout on multiple occasions. Unfortunately for Garcia, he was ineligible to win Haney’s title due to an egregious weight miss, a mistake that slightly mars what an otherwise incredible performance. On Wednesday, Haney posted his first statement to Instagram since losing his unbeaten record. He pointed out the weight discrepancy and then called for Garcia to run it back with him in the future. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Devin Haney (@realdevinhaney) First off I wanna say.. Alhamdulillah Allah is the perfect planner and I trust his plan no matter what. I came up short but this boxing, and if anyone knows me they know that I am a true competitor, and always wanted to test my skills against the best fighters in the world. Ryan, despite the circumstances was victorious that night and that’s fine. I do feel like weight played a role in it but only Allah knows. I would love to run it back and give the fans a FAIR fight within an agreed weight. With that being said.. I am currently enjoying time with my family & friends as well as making up my days of Ramadan. Thank you to all my supporters & everyone involved in making this event happen. After I finish making up my days of Ramadan I will tell you guys what’s next! Haney thanked De La Hoya in the statement, but that didn’t seem to win over the Golden Boy Promotions boss as he replied in the comments that Garcia will not rematch Haney. “Good luck with [Matchroom Boxing Chairman Eddie Hearn], but there will not be a rematch,” De La Hoya wrote. “Good luck in your career and good luck with Eddie, a European promoter trying to make it in the U.S.” Garcia has also said that it is unlikely that he rematches Haney. The 25-year-old plans to move up in weight, well out of the super light weight range, and if his social media activity is any indication, he may even entertain a crossover bout with UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley.

Photos by Phil Lambert Mike Perry returns to bare-knuckle fist-fight another man on Saturday when he takes on fellow UFC veteran and former bare-knuckle boxing champion Thiago Alves inside Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater in the main event of BKFC KnuckleMania 4. Ahead of what’s sure to be a gruesome affair, MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti, Damon Martin, and Mike Heck sidle up to the roundtable to preview the return of the bare-knuckle king. 1. Is BKFC Mike Perry one of the 10 biggest draws in combat sports? Al-Shatti: Can you imagine hearing this question in 2021 after the platinum one dropped out of the UFC having lost seven of his last 10 and four of his last five? Good lord. It would’ve sounded ludicrous. Perry barely even registered as a novelty anymore in these days. He was the dude lost in the MMA wilderness, the loose cannon who couldn’t find an actual camp or team to call home, who showed up to fights on losing streaks with his girlfriend as the only person in his corner, and who made headlines more for swinging at fools in restaurants rather than any results of consequence in the cage. If I asked you to forecast Perry’s next three years the day after his UFC departure, you would’ve been more likely to suggest jail-time rather than six-figure purses and combat sports superstardom. But therein lies the magic of the fight game. It’s a fickle mistress. Fifteen years ago Perry may have been left adrift to become MMA’s next Melvin Guillard. But fate and fortune thrust him into exactly the right place at exactly the right time, and Perry capitalized at every turn to become the face of an entire damn sport. It’s a beautiful thing. Now, is Perry a top-10 draw in combat sports as a whole? Probably not. There are a whole lot of boxers and MMA athletes who still reign supreme in that regard. But is he somewhere within the top 25? I wouldn’t doubt it. Traffic and search interest on this very website shoot through the roof every time he steps into the BKFC ring. Call it a perfect marriage, call it morbid fascination, call it whatever you want — all I know is that when “Platinum” Mike Perry chucks those bare fists into another human being’s face, people trip over themselves to pay attention. That’s more than can be said for 99.9 percent of athletes in this game. Phil Lambert/BKFC Martin: Thanks to some memorable performances in the UFC, and then becoming must-see TV in BKFC, Mike Perry has absolutely cemented himself as one of the top 10 draws in the sport. Of course, BKFC doesn’t release pay-per-view numbers (although those might start coming more often now that the promotion’s owners at Triller are part of publicly traded company), but every other metric available says when Perry fights, people care. BKFC might be the only promotion outside of the UFC and major boxing events to sell more than 5,000 tickets to any single event, and Perry drives a ton of that interest whenever he competes. Going to a surprising sixth and final round to settle things with Michael Page. Taking on former UFC champion Luke Rockhold and then making him say “no mas” in the second round after watching his teeth go flying into the crowd. Facing off with Conor McGregor because why the hell not? Throwing down in a slugfest with Eddie Alvarez and blowing his head up like a balloon. Perry creates viral moments every time he competes, and in this ADHD, TikTok world we live in, he’s exactly what the combat sports audience consumes like popcorn. The “King of Violence” gets eyeballs, clicks, and sells tickets. That’s a promoter’s dream. Heck: Draw is an interesting way to frame it, because it’s impossible to know the answer. If I had to take an educated guess, I’d say no, although he’s knocking on the door. But he’s hit a freaking grand slam since making the shift. When something fits so perfectly, it creates magic. That’s what we’ve gotten with Mike Perry and BKFC. It’s absolutely perfect, and you can see it on Perry’s face. He’s legitimately happy where he is. When he was fighting for the UFC, he certainly drew attention to his fights — for good and for bad — but everyone could see Perry wasn’t truly happy. Now that he’s being treated as a face and superstar, he’s become the promotion’s most valuable player. Perry certainly brings over a different and bigger audience when he fights, no doubt about it. He brings violence, and a likable — dare I say, charming — personality to a sport where people beat the bag out of each other without gloves, not to mention he’s facing recognizable names on the regular. And trust me, from a numbers standpoint, there will be five to 10 times more interest on our site for KnuckleMania than UFC Vegas 91, and that might be generous. What Perry has done with BKFC has put him in the conversation, and that’s absolutely incredible. Plus, he’s making bags of money to boot, so Perry is winning big. But to say he’s one of the 10 biggest draws in ALL of combat sports right now? I just don’t think the math lines up. Now, if we can get Perry in there with Jake Paul, or in a big cross-promotional fight so a new and large audience can meet him for the first time, I think that could change the conversation entirely. 2. What’s next for Perry after this weekend if he beats Thiago Alves? Heck: Since I get the top spot for this one, I’m going to give Perry what he wants — and quite frankly, what we all want: Darren Till. I honestly don’t understand how this fight hasn’t happened yet. These guys have been on a collision course since they were both in the UFC, and even with Till moving up to middleweight, it was about as a big of a no-brainer the promotion could’ve made. Now that Till is no longer on the UFC roster, and with how aggressive Dave Feldman is in making fights that the fans want, I’d be pretty surprised if BKFC didn’t make Till an offer he couldn’t refuse. Photo by Carmen Mandato/Zuffa LLC Martin: Mr. Heck has the correct answer here and I just have to echo that by saying: What exactly are you doing, Mr. Till? Maybe a 1-5 run to end his UFC career has him a little gun shy about throwing down in a bare-knuckle fight with Perry? To be completely fair, that is a dangerous proposition, especially if you’re trying to regain your footing and confidence in your first fight back in nearly two years. If Till isn’t available, why not drain the last of the swamp out of the interest that may still surround Dillon Danis? Sure, he’s not a striker and he threw about four punches in a boxing match with Logan Paul, but is there any chance that Perry won’t come after him like a lion chasing down a gazelle while throwing heat-seeking missiles? It’s a complete mismatch on paper, but Danis — for better or worse — knows how to sell a fight, and Perry going scorched earth on his face would draw a crowd. Al-Shatti: I hate to make it 3-for-3, but what on earth are you thinking if you’re Darren Till and that alleged $2 million offer from BKFC was actually real? Like, sure, I’m not trying to bare-knuckle box Mike Perry either. The man has a frightening tendency to break people’s faces in a very literal way. He’s like Jorge Masvidal but if Jorge Masvidal actually did the thing he always talks about doing. But hand me a check for seven figures? Brother, I may start changing my tune real quick. Obviously I don’t know every opportunity availing itself to Till in this combat wilderness, but I also can’t imagine many folks are lining up to pay such a weighty price tag for someone who’s lost five of six since mid-2018. Till has to know that with every loss he takes from here, this conversation only shifts in the wrong way. But I digress. Since it seems like Till clearly isn’t interested, allow me to revisit the idea I pitched this past December. The perfect Perry opponent is anyone who sits at the intersection of name brand, availability, violence potential, and enough lunatic tendencies to actually be crazy enough to do this. Who fits that bill to a tee? Oh yes — it’s Paul Daley. “Semtex” may be 41 years old, but he was born for bare-knuckle boxing, and he sent poor Wendell Giacomo to the land of wind and ghosts as recently as 2022. Daley also very clearly left the door open for something different in combat sports when hung up his MMA gloves. As far as Plan Bs go, you could do a lot worse than London’s finest. 3. What is this card missing? Martin: Because bare-knuckle fighting is such a fast-paced sport with five-round fights that only last two minutes per round, sometimes these matchups go quicker than expected, which is why you end up with a nine-fight main card like what’s happening on Saturday. The most notable omission really comes down to at least one more fight with real name value, but even that’s not totally necessary with Perry headlining. It would be nice if BKFC KnuckleMania IV, which is promoted as the once-a-year Super Bowl level event for the promotion, had a bit more star power at the top. A marquee fight with Paige VanZant returning would have been a welcome addition, but she’s about to headline a Misfits boxing card instead. Maybe BKFC knows Perry doesn’t need much of a supporting cast these days, and VanZant surely earns a hefty paycheck, so it might come down to a financial decision to leave her off the card. But truthfully, Perry is to BKFC what Conor McGregor is to the UFC — that’s the only fight that ever really matters, so why not just let them shine and save everybody else to sell another card down the road? Photos by Phil Lambert Al-Shatti: Look, if we’re being honest with ourselves, the answer is clear. It’s missing one of two things. First is the kind of bombastic dance partner we’ve come to expect from a Mike Perry BKFC event. Thiago Alves is one hell of a matchup — a true-blue violence connoisseur who very much lives that life and could absolutely win on Saturday — but he isn’t the same type of carnival barker who’ll play the promotional game and push an event to that next level in the same way as a Michael Page, Luke Rockhold, or even an Eddie Alvarez. Alves prefers to get his work done inside the cage, and that’s great, but his more muted approach doesn’t tickle the reptilian side of our brains in the same way as Perry’s past foes. As for the second missing component — I mean, this is an event called KnuckleMania. It inherently leans into the absurd. Where’s the weirdness? Where’s the oddity? Where’s that special circus sideshow no one saw coming that brings that “wait...what??” factor to the package? This is a much more minor quibble, no doubt, but a little dash of Fight Circus for such a Superbowl-style event could’ve gone a long way toward spicing things up. Still, though, Ben Rothwell vs. Todd Duffee is on this card, so I’m not complaining. Heck: I talked about this during the 2024 MMA Fighting Draft — which I won, by the way — but while BKFC is doing a ton of things right, there is a glaring hole in their promotional lens when it comes to building female stars. Britain Hart could be a bigger star, Taylor Starling as well, not to mention Christine Ferea being the face of women’s bare-knuckle boxing, but neither are competing on this card. The biggest reason I bring this up? If there was an opportunity to put a bare-knuckle fight together between Ferea and Cris Cyborg, it would generate more buzz than any current and realistic option Cyborg has on the table, especially now that Kayla Harrison is on the UFC roster. Would Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco be intriguing? Yes. But would it draw more interest than Cyborg going to BKFC to face Ferea? No, and I don’t think it’s close. Both Ferea and Cyborg have expressed interest in fighting each other, and I’m sure PFL could use the extra exposure by putting one of its big names in an incredibly intriguing matchup, plus with Perry at the top of the bill, and adding another mainstream combat name to the mix, there will be more eyeballs on a PFL fighter at KnuckleMania than on most of PFL’s fight cards in 2024. That might be harsh, but it’s likely not wrong.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Khabib Nurmagomedov was on top of the world amid his UFC lightweight title reign. As his dominant undefeated record continued to grow, Nurmagomedov’s inevitable time atop the 155-pound division came once his injury woes were behind him in 2016. Even upon his return that year post-ACL tear, Nurmagomedov didn’t fight for gold until April 2018 after wins over Darrell Horcher, Michael Johnson, and Edson Barboza. Yeah, that first one is so weird in hindsight, but if you remember, that was one of the five times “The Eagle” was matched against Tony Ferguson. Pain, I know. Regardless, Nurmagomedov won the title with a dominant short-notice unanimous decision over Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 — another one of those originally expected Ferguson pairings. After that, the biggest fight in UFC history took place when Nurmagomedov welcomed back the former champion Conor McGregor in his first title defense and all hell broke loose at UFC 229. After the fourth-round neck crank win for the champion, Nurmagomedov infamously started a brawl between the teams when he jumped into the crowd and attacked Dillon Danis. Inside the octagon, UFC featherweight Zubaira Tukhugov punched McGregor and found himself fined and suspended by the NSAC along with a release from the promotion. However, it wasn’t long after that he was brought back. “Nobody has ever revealed it,” Tukhugov told Aslanbek Badaev (h/t Red Corner MMA). “I got suspended. My contract was terminated. Khabib said, ‘Zubaira will fight first then I will fight, too.’ “After the McGregor fight, the UFC really needed Khabib. So, they gave me a new contract. They also promised to put me on the Abu Dhabi card (UFC 242) with Khabib and Islam [Makhachev].” Tukhugov, 32, was sidelined throughout the whole Nurmagomedov-McGregor saga, having not fought since a split-decision loss to Renato “Moicano” Carneiro at UFC 198 in May 2016. Ideally, “Warrior’s” return would come at UFC 242 for what was the promotion’s big return to Abu Dhabi after a five-year absence. Nurmagomedov and the future lightweight champion Makhachev were critical big-name stars to have on the card as Tukhugov mentioned. A fight of his own wasn’t a part of the plans for the event, though. As a result, Tukhugov claims Nurmagomedov was ready to back out of his booked main event title defense against Dustin Poirier. “[UFC CEO] Dana White said that they had no room for me on that card,” Tukhugov said. “So, they were going to let me fight in Moscow. He tried to make Khabib change his mind, but Khabib was like, ‘Okay, I am going to rip this contract up now. I will give my spot on the card to Zubaira if you don’t have it for him.’ “It was his first really good payday. I said, ‘Please don’t do that.’ Then [UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell] called me and said he respected Khabib’s decision and decided to remove a few fights to let me on the card. That’s how I managed to be part of the event.” Tukhugov welcomed rising undefeated featherweight contender Lerone Murphy to the UFC at UFC 242, fighting to a split draw. He stuck around for four more fights afterward before he was released again by the promotion following a split decision loss to Elvis Brener in February 2023. He went 2-2 (5-3-1 in UFC, 20-6-1 overall) in that stretch and hasn’t fought since. Nurmagomedov fought once more when he submitted Justin Gaethje via a second-round triangle choke to go 29-0 and retire at UFC 254 in October 2020. TOP STORIES Fun. The 2024 MMA Draft: Which 35 fighters are the best building blocks for MMA promotions? Money. TKO CEO Ari Emanuel earned nearly $65 million in compensation in 2023, including $20 million bonus from UFC Update. Cain Velasquez attempted murder trial set to begin in September Rivals. Israel Adesanya reflects on Alex Pereira rivalry: ‘He’s a special human being’ Beef. Michael Chandler criticizes Arman Tsarukyan turning down UFC 302 title fight, Tsarukyan unloads back Hype. Ilia Topuria on Sean O’Malley superfight: ‘If he defends the belt, that’s going to be the biggest fight in UFC history’ Assessment. Caio Borralho questions why Paulo Costa can’t fix ‘basic’ mistake that led Robert Whittaker loss Poked. Leon Edwards’ coach: Belal Muhammad ‘was looking for a way out’ in first fight Official. UFC 304 announced for Manchester this summer VIDEO STEW MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin chats with Anthony Smith. Full fight. Check hooks. MORNING MUSIC Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or find one of my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re currently really into. I’ll pick the best one alongside my daily choice and give you a shoutout! You can also share in the comments below — those are just harder to sift through sometimes! SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE Welcome. Welcome to the Professional Fighters League, @melissastatick She is set to make her PFL Pro Debut in the summer pic.twitter.com/OdieUSDaU8— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 24, 2024 Heating up. That’s just not truth. The truth is that you want to fight me on short notice to have an extra advantage. It won’t happen again though. When was the last time you fought 2 times in 6 weeks? @MAKHACHEVMMA https://t.co/c7wTudvyRL— Arman Tsarukyan UFC (@ArmanUfc) April 24, 2024 Age is just a number. Ouch https://t.co/blFjgyl5ZM— Tim Elliott (@TElliott125) April 24, 2024 Time will tell. Just how good is Myktybek Orolbai pic.twitter.com/9GHnLqIxfj— AWUREDO (@AOUREDOO) April 24, 2024 Checking in. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alex Behunin (@alexbehunin) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ariane Lipski (@arianelipski) Back at it. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bony (@jonnybones) FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS Joaquin Buckley (18-6) vs. Nursulton Ruziboev (34-8-2, 2 NC); UFC St. Louis, May 11 Alejandra Lara (9-7) vs. Gisela Luna (5-1); Combate Global, May 11 Andrea Lee (13-9) vs. Montana De La Rosa (12-9-1); UFC Louisville, June 8 Mike Malott (10-2-1) vs. Gilbert Urbina (7-3); UFC Fight Night, July 13 Nathaniel Wood (20-6) vs. Daniel Pineda (28-15-0, 3 NC); UFC 304, July 27 FINAL THOUGHTS MMA isn’t a team sport, but if there’s a more loyal team than those affiliated with AKA, we may have yet to see it. Thanks for reading! EXIT POLL If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

Mike Perry makes his return at BKFC KnuckleMania 4 on Saturday. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC MMA Fighting has the BKFC KnuckleMania 4 fight card for the Perry vs. Alves event from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday night. In the main event, Mike Perry tries to keep his perfect BKFC record intact when he squares off against Thiago Alves in a light heavyweight contest. BKFC cruiserweight and light heavyweight champion Lorenzo Hunt tries to earn his third BKFC belt when he faces BKFC heavyweight champion Mick Terrill in the co-main event. UFC heavyweight veterans Ben Rothwell and Todd Duffee also clash on the main card. Check out the BKFC KnuckleMania 4 fight card below. Main card (Triller PPV at 10 p.m. ET) Mike Perry vs. Thiago Alves Mick Terrill vs. Lorenzo Hunt Ben Rothwell vs. Todd Duffee Alfredo Angulo vs. Jeremiah Riggs Evgeny Kurdanov vs. Julian Lane Crystal Pittman vs. Sydney Smith David Diaz vs. Shane Jordan Andrew Angelcor vs. Ruben Warr Daniel Alvarez vs. Victor Rosas Prelims (MMA Fighting at 9 p.m. ET) Vinny Familari vs. Fernando Gonzalez Tommy Aaron vs. Richard Brooks Keith Richardson vs. Cody Vidal