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UFC welterweight Mike Perry entered the Octagon at UFC 204 to a chorus of boos and jeers in Manchester, England, last Saturday.



The home crowd was understandably backing its man Danny Roberts, but after a three-round war, every fan in the arena was on his or her feet, clapping the American as he stood triumphant with his hands raised in the centre of Octagon after another brutal knockout.



"I wanted to fight somebody who really wanted to get into a f******g fight and I got that," Perry said. "I had a great time. I was having fun in there. There are some things I will go away and work on, but that was the first time I've been made to go to the third round. I was proud of my performance. I got the job done and it took a little longer than expected, but I like how it happened.



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"I'm always prepared for a fight. I train to be in fights like that. I train hard and I never slack off. It wasn't the first time I've needed to dig into all the things I've been doing in training. I stayed relaxed. I had a little fire under my ass because I knew I had to pull something out him being from England and all and the fight being close. The finish came and I took it."



Marc Goddard did his job

Perry's finishing flurry on Roberts after four minutes and 40 seconds of the third round drew criticism for referee Marc Goddard for stopping the fight too late. Perry believes Goddard was just giving the Brit as much chance as possible to recover and that he could've caused further damage if he'd wished.



"It was possibly a little late, but he wanted to give Danny the chance," Perry said. "If I was Danny, I wouldn't be upset with Goddard's stoppage. I've gone down before and I got up and I won, so I need that chance and I need that opportunity.



"To be honest with you, I could've hit him again but I saw he was out. I could've hit him one more time, but I didn't because I saw it was over. I think Goddard is one of the best refs in the world and I think he did a good job."



A backstage run-in with Dan Hardy

After the fight, Perry and Roberts were both taken to the local hospital for check-ups, meaning there were no opportunities for any post-fight press conferences. Perry didn't understand why he'd been asked to make the trip himself and recalled an interaction he had with Dan Hardy backstage as he was being taken there.



"I lost out on my post-fight interviews for no reason--I was totally fine," Perry said. "The guy looked in my pupil and he said one of my pupils was bigger than the other, but I was buzzing on adrenaline. I was excited and I just went like 15 minutes--I was tired. The guy should've given me a break. I was totally fine.



"They made me get on the gurney to get in the ambulance and when they were pushing me past I seen Dan Hardy and I said "Dan Hardy, champions don't walk, they get pushed around on their chariots." He didn't think that was too funny. He didn't like it and he was mad as hell because his boy just lost. He can kiss my ass; I was in a good mood. I'd just won. F**k Dan Hardy, nothing was going to take that feeling away."



Turning the Manchester crowd around

Reflecting on the fight with Roberts, Perry believes it was exactly the sort of scrap he's been after to totally showcase to the fans what he's all about.



"It was a helluva fight," Perry said. "I feel like I'd had just won Fight of The Night and me and Danny had just put on a show. I wanted people to see that, to see what the f**k was in front of them on the screen. I've been waiting for a UFC fighter like me. I go to fight, I show up. The type of fights I put on are the type of fights I like to watch.



"I go to entertain and I know I entertained those people because when I walked in, they booed me and yelled for him. I don't blame them because that's their boy, but they did not boo me when I won that fight. I just won over 15,000 people, and I loved every f*****g minute of it, man. They are great fans, and they went to enjoy a great fight. Who doesn't love a great fight?"



Wants another fight in December

Having now gone 2-0 in the UFC since his debut in August, Perry isn't going to sit around and wait for 2017 before his next fight. The American wants to be back in the Octagon by the end of year, but while he's keen to rack up the fights, he knows he must further prove himself before calling people out in the top 10.



"I want another fight in December," Perry confirmed. "I talked to my manager and he will take care of that as far as I'm concerned. I'm looking for another win, another paycheck and I'm going to put on another show. It doesn't matter who they put in front of me, I even said I wanted the winner of Gall versus Northcutt, but I just did that because it was funny and there was a meme to go with it.



"Of course I want to say names I'd destroy in the top 15. I could say give me Neil Magny, Johny Hendricks--I'd beat both these guys, but they are coming off losses. Even if I call these names out, they won't pay me what I deserve because I'm calling them out and I'll get paid what I'm making right now. I need to get to a place where the UFC start offering me big names, so I can say I'll take the fight but only for the right money."



After big fights, but for big money

Perry then expanded on how he sees his own career panning out and the path that he wishes to take to be the best in the world and get paid.



"That's when everything becomes business," Perry said. "It's hard to take business and pride and put them together in a pot to create something delicious. You got to have pride. You can't go call out No. 1 and get paid eight grand for it--f**k that.



"I want to climb the ladder. I want to be 40-0; I want to be 50-0 when I retire. I want to climb the ladder and beat all of these chumps and make all the money I can. This has been the perfect start [in the UFC] for me. I'm a man of God, and I believe he will get me where I need to go. I follow him faithfully, and I believe everything he puts in front of me. It's been perfect so far."



Buckle-up Perry fans

Despite Perry's past controversies, with every performance he seemingly wins more and more of the UFC fan base over. Perry wanted to send a clear message to the people who were supporting him.



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"The people that don't believe in me, I'll just keep proving wrong," Perry said. "I've just got to be me though. I'll never be anything I'm not and if that gets likes and gets fans that's great. If it doesn't I don't care, I'm just going to be me.



"Shout out to all my fans, both old and new. If you are on the Platinum Train enjoy the ride--it's going to be a helluva f*****g road."