HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Mike Perry is ready to fight for gold at BKFC.

The former UFC welterweight and now BKFC fighter wants his shot at the promotion’s middleweight champion, Thiago Alves. Perry made his promotional debut on Saturday night, defeating Julian Lane in a bloody unanimous decision in the co-main event of “BKFC: KnuckleMania 2.”

Although just 1-0 under the new banner, Perry feels he’s prime to challenge for the BKFC title.

“Absolutely, I do (want to fight for the title),” Perry told MMA Junkie following his debut win. “I just need a couple of months to heal and strengthen some things. I’ll be working within that time. I can do cardio. My cardio could’ve been better. I knew is was going to be more like a bone cardio, you know what I mean? My hands just hurt from hitting him in the face.

“I already see some ways that I could’ve opened him up a little more and do somethings different and cause some damages from different areas, but I thought the things I did were working, and the proof is in the pudding.”

Perry and Alves competed in the same division in the UFC for a few years. The 30-year-old told MMA Junkie they almost crossed paths in MMA, but a fight between the two never came to fruition. Perry, who’s now 2-0 in striking-only events since leaving the UFC in fall of 2021, respects the champion and hopes they get to share the ring for his next bout.

“There was a time I was going to get the opportunity to fight him (in the UFC), but that didn’t happen,” Perry said. “We were going to fight in MMA, but that didn’t happen. The past doesn’t matter. I don’t care who has it. I’m on a mission. I’m on a path. He was an ex-title challenger, my opponent (Lane), so I believe in a way I earned the shot. There is no, ‘if not,’ I’m the fight for him to have. Give me a little bit of time, and I would love the opportunity to take take belt off the champion’s hands.”