Mike Perry vs. Julian Lane booked for Feb. 19 ‘Knucklemania’ event

Less than one month after Julian Lane and Mike Perry brawled outside the ring at a BKFC event, they will make their business professional.

Perry on Thursday announced he’d signed a contract to fight at “Knucklemania,” the second installment of the themed bare-knuckle show, on Feb. 19 against an unnamed opponent. A person with knowledge of negotiations told MMA Fighting that Lane is the scheduled opponent, and the UFC veteran reposted a social media post from MMA Island of the upcoming fight. Reporter Chris Taylor first reported the pairing.

Before the two clashed, Lane approached Perry and verbally confronted him during the BKFC Tampa event. Perry was in the midst of a gig as a guest commentator and quickly fired back before engaging Lane physically. The interaction was caught on camera.

Perry signed with BKFC this past October after receiving his release from contract by the UFC, where he’d served an eight-year stint. Perry touted his new deal as a lucrative offer that convinced him to go bare-knuckle for the upstart promotion, which has made a habit of signing aging octagon competitors since its first event in 2018.

The “Knucklemania 2” event will take place in Hollywood, Fla., Perry announced. The first “Knucklemania” took place Feb. 5 in Lakeland, Fla., and featured a headliner between Paige VanZant and Britain Hart, who earned a unanimous decision win in an upset of the ex-UFC star.

Perry most recently competed in the UFC’s octagon, where he lost a decision this past April to Daniel Rodriguez to drop to 1-4 in his past five MMA outings. Lane, a UFC and BKFC vet, is 2-3 in BKFC after a decision loss to David Rickels this past October.