Conor McGregor and Mike Perry just can’t get along.

At a press conference in New Jersey on Thursday to promote BKFC 82, McGregor and Perry had a heated war of words. Perry puts his “King of Violence” belt on the line in the main event opposite Jeremy Stephens on Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., marking Perry’s return to the promotion after he lost by sixth-round knockout to Jake Paul in a boxing match in July 2024. McGregor, UFC star and part-owner of BKFC, said it could be Perry’s final bout for the promotion if he doesn’t deliver.

“We’ve got our ‘King of Violence’ world title on the line by the current champ, Mike Perry, the King of Violence, making his return,” McGregor said. “A man that paved the way in this sport and rose up and done incredible things. Then he made an error and went a different way, biggest mistake in my opinion, but now he’s back. People are underwriting him. He’s got a big point to prove. And you know what’s at stake, Michael? If you don’t perform, you’re gone. You can go back to those exhibition bouts and those Misfits where they put on the big gloves, we’ll part ways, but I’m confident you’ll show up and do your thing, and I’m excited to see it.

“And who are you against? You’re against a man, Jeremy Stephens, ‘Who The F*ck Is That Guy’, the one and only. The hardest-hitting 145-pounder. Listen to that. He’s a hard-hitting man, for sure, but he’s also a 145-pounder. Michael Perry is a 170-pounder, so that can never be overlooked. That’s a fierce man, a ferocious man, a man with his back against the wall. And for me in this bout, I’m undecided. I’m absolutely undecided. This could go either way, but one thing is for certain: this is gonna be one hell of a fight. And you know what’s at stake again? They’re both angling for a fight against the big boss, me. For me, who would I wish? Who would I prefer? Either or. I hope for a fight for our fans and I’m confident of that because no fight in bare-knuckle history has been a boring fight.”

Dillon Danis was in attendance and his name was brought to the discussion as a potential matchup for Perry in the future, leading to the BKFC titleholder going back and forth with McGregor about his options should he beat Stephens. Perry said “I’ve carried this whole shit on my back,” adding “I’m gonna have bigger and better things to do after victory on Saturday night” than facing Danis.

“You gotta fight for that world title, Mike,” McGregor said. “You’ve never been a world champion. You’re no world champion. So without a world title in this promotion — I only speak as I spoke, when I secure two UFC world titles. We made this fight for you.”

“I beat that world champion twice,” Perry responded, referring to BKFC middleweight champion David Mundell. “I knocked him out twice in [MMA]. I mean, look, I’m gonna beat Jeremy’s ass on Saturday. Wherever, wherever they call me after, I accept…”

“Your next fight is for a world title,” McGregor interrupted him.

“If the big money fight ends up being fighting Dillon Danis in MMA — or how about me and Conor at the White House?” Perry responded. “You need to find an American who can win. I’m the only one here fighting.”

McGregor fired back immediately.

“Your next fight, Mike — if you win, by the way, Jeremy has some good shots and your stance and movements and reactions, I see real paths for Jeremy,” McGregor said. “However, your next [fight], if you get through this, has got to be for a world title. You should be climbing for a world title in this organization, not try to piggyback around and do this bullshit. No one cares.”

“What you mean? My King of Violence [belt] is a world title,” Perry said. “Who cares about that bum that I knocked out twice? Obviously nobody. He’s nobody.”

“He’s the middleweight world champion and you’re just… We’ve made you. We made you and can break you,” McGregor said. “We built you, we can kill you. You’re fighting for a world title if you can get through this, otherwise you’re fucking nothing.”

Perry interrupted him to question if McGregor will threaten to fire him, as he’s said in the past.

“And if you don’t perform, you’re done,” McGregor continued. “If you don’t perform, you can go and do all these Mickey Mouse fights no one gives a fuck about. That generate nothing and we won’t give a fuck here.”