Mickey Gall returns this weekend for his first fight since a scrap in his own backyard last August at UFC Newark.
That fight, against Salim Touahri, saw Gall (6-2) improve to 5-2 in the UFC. This time out, his opponent has a much higher profile: Mike Perry. The pair make up the UFC on ESPN 12 co-main event.
Of course, the talk around Perry of late has been less about his power in the cage, and more about things outside it. Squabbling with Darren Till on social media. Opting to run his own training camp, and have only his girlfriend corner him.
It feels like a distraction. One that Gall didn’t want to comment on, initially, speaking to Cageside Press at the UFC on ESPN 12 media day. Of course, Gall has had his own development to worry about.
“I don’t know. You kind of said it yourself. I’m not really concerned with it, I’m focused on myself,” Gall said of Perry perhaps creating a distraction for himself. “Until I’m in the cage controlling him physically, I can only control myself. I’ve got a great team behind me. I take a lot of pride in having a lot of confidence in my team and myself. I’m not really concerned with what he’s doing — I’m going to be prepared for the best Mike Perry.”
That said, it’s hard not to have an opinion on Perry. And Gall did eventually let his slip. “If I’m really thinking about it, I think he’s been regressing,” the New Jersey native observed. “And I know I’m getting a lot better, and I think he’s on a downward slide. But I’ve been training hard, I’m peaking, and I’m ready for the best Mike Perry there’s ever been.”
Perry would later scoff at the suggestion that he’s regressing. But the reality is, he’s lost his last two fights. And Gall feels that he will enter Saturday as the more complete fighter.
“I know I’m the smarter guy. I’m more well-rounded. I have more ways to win,” he stated. It might be a case of the more methodical fighter overcoming an emotional one. “Whatever you call it: methodical, whatever. Like I’ve been saying, I’m a lowkey Mike Perry fan. That’s a fun guy to watch. He comes out, he fights violent. He’s a savage, but I’m a killer. I’m going to be a cool, calm, collected killer. And I’m going to take him out.”
Watch the full UFC on ESPN 12 media day scrum with Mickey Gall above!
