Nate Diaz was left completely bloodied in his return Saturday night.
Mike Perry made quick work of the former UFC star and walked away with a TKO win during Saturday’s Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano card at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, which marked the inaugural MMA card broadcasted on Netflix. Diaz’s camp called a stop to the bout after the second round following a huge knee to his head, which only added to the blood that was gushing out of Diaz at the time.
“Look, I landed really good shots and I was hitting,” Perry said post-fight. “I was getting a little tired, but I think that’s part of it.
“He’s the toughest f***ing guy out there, there’s no quit in him. … Blood was spilled.”
Perry (15-8) dominated nearly the entire way, coming out hot with several body shots in the opening seconds that seemed to throw Diaz (21-14) off from the jump. While Diaz recovered a bit and landed multiple head shots of his own later in the round, Perry snuck in a couple elbows against the cage right before the bell sounded.
That sent the fight into the second round, something the other four fights on Saturday’s card failed to do. They all ended with opening-round knockouts or submissions.
Perry picked it right back up in the second round and landed multiple shots that sent blood pouring out of Diaz’s head. Perry then threw Diaz down to the mat and unloaded a barrage of blows as the blood kept pouring. Diaz continued to absorb hits, seemingly trying to run out the clock on the round, but right before the bell sounded Perry delivered a knee that sent Diaz stumbling back down to the mat with his face completely red. The connection looked close to a finishing blow had it come earlier in the period.
It turned out to be enough. Diaz’s team called the fight during the break between rounds. That officially gave Perry the TKO win, as Diaz started using water to wash as much blood off him as he could.
Diaz said after that he didn’t have any issue with the stoppage. He did, though, get on board with a rematch in the future.
“I had blood in my eye, I couldn’t see. … It’s all good,” Diaz said. “Next time, he ain’t going to be able to do nothing.”
Diaz entered the night having not competed in MMA since he beating Tony Ferguson iun his final UFC fight back in 2022. He’s since dabbled in boxing, beating former UFC rival Jorge Masvidal in 2024 after falling short against Jake Paul the year prior.
But Diaz had been contemplating a return to MMA in recent years. While he’s 41 years old and undoubtedly no longer at the peak of his powers, a potential trilogy bout with Conor McGregor, whom Diaz upset back in 2016, is absolutely on the table for a future fight. McGregor is making a return later this summer in a UFC rematch with Max Holloway, something that was announced on Saturday night.
Perry entered the night having lost four of his final five UFC bouts, but he also left the promotion back in 2021 and has since revived his career in bare-knuckle boxing. He went on a 6-0 run in BKFC and beat several big names, though he, too, fell to Paul in a boxing match in 2024.
Perry didn’t waste any time trying to line up his next fight either, and turned to Paul, who was promoting Saturday night’s card and standing right next to him in the ring.
Paul didn’t hesitate.
“I’ll MMA this motherf***er,” Paul said. “I already beat that ass in boxing.”
For more on Saturday’s Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano card on Netflix, check out full results, highlights and more with our Uncrowned event hub.
