"I am kind of like kin to the Diaz brothers" - Mike Perry full of respect for Nate Diaz but remains open to fighting Stockton native in future

Mike Perry recently expressed his fondness for Nate Diaz but said he was still open to fighting the MMA veteran.

'Platinum' recently spoke to Damon Martin for MMA Fighting. At one point, Mike Perry talked about Diaz and said he respected the Stockton native but would jump at the possibility of fighting the 37-year-old. Perry also highlighted the similarities between him and Nate Diaz:

"It's a lot of respect there for Nate Diaz. A lot of people, fans have said over the years that you know, I am kind of like kin to the Diaz brothers and that you know, we have the same initial feelings towards fighting, that if we're fighting it's a real fight, you know. All that friendly stuff, it doesn't have to be there until you know, the victor is chosen and then we can talk about being cool."

He believes that the MMA veteran could possibly develop an interest in bare-knuckle boxing:

"I mean it's no animosity, he's a great competitor and I am as well... I love bare-knuckle because it's so real and I think it's a challenge that he could possibly be interested in if he started learning about bare-knuckle boxing."

Watch the full Mike Perry interview below:

Diaz recently competed in the last fight of his UFC contract at UFC 279 and defeated Tony Ferguson via a fourth-round submission.

After Diaz's recent win, Perry called out the 37-year-old for a bare-knuckle boxing matchup.

---

Nate Diaz competing in a bare-knuckle boxing match might not be a distant possibility

In his post-fight interview at UFC 279, Nate Diaz said he would like to leave the UFC, compete in other sports and conquer them. So, it is possible for one of those sports to be bare-knuckle boxing.

Watch Diaz's octagon interview at UFC 279:

However, former MMA referee John McCarthy does not believe the Stockton native will compete in BKFC, an organization popular for organizing bare-knucle boxing fights. On a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, McCarthy opined that BKFC might not have the money required to bring a star like Diaz into the organization:

"I think we really started this conversation off with Mike Perry and bare-knuckle boxing and Nate doing bare-knuckle boxing and you're not gonna see that... They don't have the money that Nate wants to do that."

Watch the full episode of the Weighing In podcast below: