Mike Perry is returning to the Octagon. On Friday, the popular welterweight announced that he had re-signed with the UFC, more than five years after his last fight there.
After going 7-8 in his first stint, “Platinum” shone as the face of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. He went 7-0 in the promotion, defeating the likes of former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Luke Rockhold, and captured its “King of Violence” title. In 2026, he returned to MMA, defeating Nate Diaz at MVP: Rousey vs. Carano before suffering a shoulder injury against a short-notice Brandon Jenkins.
Perry’s return bout for the UFC is not expected to be until sometime next year, but here is hoping that he does not end up joining these names in the realm of futility…
3) Kris Moutinho
Kris Moutinho’s infamy largely rests on his Octagon debut. Back in 2021, future champion Sean O’Malley needed a new opponent at UFC 264 after Louis Smolka was forced to withdraw because of an injury. In stepped Moutinho, who was constantly battered with hard shots before wilting very late in the third round.
Nevertheless, Moutinho so greatly impressed the brass with his durability and resilience that he received a second fight. That came against an aging Guido Cannetti, whom he was expected to blow past. Instead, it turned into disaster, as he was knocked out within just a single round.
Moutinho was given his walking papers afterward, but he would fight his way back to the Octagon. After five straight wins, mainly in the New Hampshire-centered Combat Zone promotion, he was booked against a then-surging Malcolm Wellmaker. It ended in disaster, as he was knocked out in the first round yet again.
A decision loss to Cristian Quinonez this February marked Moutinho’s last UFC fight, as he was released shortly after. He rebounded almost three months later with a victory in his ancestral Portugal, but at 34 years of age, he is unlikely to get a third stint.
2) Jeremy Stephens
When Jeremy Stephens left the UFC for the first time in 2021, he did so after a rough stretch. He had not won since February 2018, and his only non-loss in that span was a no-contest.
“Lil’ Heathen” then took his talents to the PFL for its 2022 season, where he somehow continued to be disappointing. He went 1-2 and did not make the playoffs. After a long time away to pursue boxing, both gloved and bare-knuckle, he made his MMA return in 2025, fighting Mason Jones in his native Iowa.
It did not go well, as Stephens lost by decision – his record-tying 19th – after surrendering multiple takedowns throughout the fight. That should have been the end, but he somehow resurfaced a year later at UFC 328 against King Green. That one went even worse: he missed weight by five pounds, then was submitted in the first round for his record-breaking 20th defeat.
Since then, Stephens has gone quiet. Here is hoping that when he makes the news again, it is about his retirement from combat sports. The man has taken plenty of punishment throughout his career, and he deserves a permanent break from all the violence.
1) Henry Cejudo
Of course, who can forget this “epic failure”? It was so disastrous that it got its own It’s Not Cagefighting video last month!
Henry Cejudo had the perfect ending to his first UFC stint in 2020. He had just retained his bantamweight title by knockout against Dominick Cruz, and he had seemingly nothing left to prove. For nearly two years, he kept himself out of the MMA spotlight, then 2022 happened.
That April, Cejudo announced that he had reentered USADA’s testing pool, all but confirming his unretirement. His return bout came just over a year later, when he challenged Aljamain Sterling in the main event of UFC 288. The fight proved to be very closely-contested, but “Triple C” was unsuccessful in his attempt to regain gold.
What followed was a sad streak, as Cejudo lost three straight against Merab Dvalishvili, Yadong Song, and Payton Talbott. The last of these proved to be his last-ever fight, as he retired from MMA again afterwards and is happily sticking to it.
End Of My UFC Rant
Those precedents above seemingly serve to work against Perry as he prepares for his UFC return. After all, he is 35 years of age and has accumulated plenty more mileage.
Yet he has at least one positive example to emulate: Robelis Despaigne. The Cuban heavyweight had a successful, if rather dreadful, return to the Octagon in September, and his karate-based style figures to be appealing to those who want striking showcases. Perry, with his added extensive experience in brawls from his BKFC days, could carve out a similar niche as an all-action attraction fighter in this second stint.
