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UFC Fight Night 108's Mike Perry on prayer, power, title aspirations and potential octagon deaths

NASHVILLE – Mike Perry landed a right elbow that was so hard Saturday night, it caused one of the lengthier time frames in recent memory for his opponent to get back to his feet.

Perry (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) landed a vicious elbow on Jake Ellenberger (31-13 MMA, 10-9 UFC) in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 108 main-card opener and shut his lights out. After replays, commercial breaks and Perry’s interview with Brian Stann, Ellenberger finally was back to a stool looking like he wasn’t quite sure who he was shaking hands with or why.

After the fight, Perry was asked if he ever has concern about his opponents in a situation like that. After all, he had no problem mugging for the cameras, smacking his face and licking the blood from his gloves B.J. Penn-style, and reminding everyone he predicted such an outcome.

“Y’all hear how I talk about these people,” Perry said back stage at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. His fight to open the main card aired on FS1 following prelims on FS2 and UFC Fight Pass. “I don’t think I’m going to be the guy that’s going to be the first guy to kill somebody in the UFC. I think that I have clean knockouts, and with a clean knockout, people go to sleep. Then they wake up, they heal up. He’ll be fine.

“… I’ve seen bad knockouts before. I alway pray for my protection, their protection – but I pray for victory, too. I’ve got to win. That’s how I win. That’s how I do it.”

Perry bounced back after the first loss of his pro career, which came by decision to Alan Jouban in December in what Perry said was a perfect game plan by Jouban to run from his power, and a poor gameplan by himself to stray from his formula.

That formula is quite clear. All 10 of Perry’s wins have come by knockout. His first two in the UFC were over Hyun Gyu Lim and Danny Roberts. Jouban represented a step up in competition, and Perry came up short in that test. But the win over a veteran like Ellenberger, which got him an extra $50,000, may have put the middle of the welterweight division on notice while Perry tries to climb the ladder.

“I knew he had power – I was sure he did,” Perry said. “(He’s) top 15, and he’s got all those muscles, very similar body style (to mine). But I knew that’s all he wanted was the right hand. I was setting up the elbows and the left hook to counter that, and that’s what finished the fight for me. I was never worried about his power. When he took me down, I was doing my best to not get hit – that’s the name of the game.

“I think he was taking too long to get back to me – maybe it’s time to hang up the gloves. I’d be happy to be his last fight. Maybe he’ll come back and beat somebody else – I don’t know.”

Ellenberger has dropped seven of his past nine, and four of those have come by knockout. If Perry seems intent on starting a run toward welterweight title contention starting with a win over a former title contender like Ellenberger, who now is four years removed from a time he had won eight of nine fights, he’s not willing to say who he wants next.

But he does believe welterweight champ Tyron Woodley knows who he is.

“I’ve seen Tyron Woodley on many occasions, and he believes in me,” Perry said. “I think he believes I’m coming to see him, and I am.”

If that day comes, it’s safe to assume Perry will have a game plan that involves using his power to get the job done.

“When I throw power, man, people go down,” he said. “That’s the way it’s always been. I looked right at him. I didn’t even feel the elbow. It was so smooth, so swift. It just breezed by like the wind. … I wished him goodnight.”

For more from Perry, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 108, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

[sigallery id=”cv7h4kC9rfCt2v5reydwmn” title=”Perry def. Ellenberger” type=”sigallery”]

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