“Platinum” Mike Perry danced like a rooster following his impressive 79-second knockout of Alex Reyes at UFC Pittsburgh in September
While the post-fight performance provided some comic relief and went viral not long after, Perry explained why the motivation behind his unique celebratory dance was not as random as some would have believed:
“Martial arts is all about different animal styles, really, if you look at it,” Perry said (via MMAFighting).
“Have you ever seen Ong-Bak: [Muay] Thai Warrior? He’s calling out these techniques in this kata. He’s shadowboxing Muay Thai and he’s got a name for everything. He comes up with a knee and comes down with this 12-to-6 elbow and he calls it, like, ‘smashing elephant’s tusk’ or some sh*t like that. Or Jackie Chan’s drunken master, he’s like, ‘Crane picks up box,’ and he gets up on one leg, or, ‘Monkey something.’
“Animals and martial arts are kinda linked together, or humans took animals’ strength and turned them into martial arts moves hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago, however you want to say. Whenever martial arts came about, people took it off of animals’ abilities, and you know, there’s roosters. The Chinese Zodiac for example, everything is linked to martial arts, because it’s like the one real thing in life that just has been — there’s dancing since time began, man; there’s people’s movements with their bodies, things to do with it.”
Perry, who will go head to head with Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC on FOX 26 next month, claimed that the influence of animals in his mental and movement games is setting no precedent:
“Next time it’s going to be, like, a tyrannosaurus rex or the Kung Fu Panda roll,” Perry said.
“I used to think I was the drunken boxer, because of how I moved and things like that. It’s like (Jorge) Masvidal, he said he’s been getting ready for ‘Wonderboy’ by watching Karate Kid and karate movies all week. That’s real stuff, man. That’s all mental. I watched DragonBall Z as a kid — I am the greatest fighter in the universe. That’s how I feel. So it’s like — you’ve seen the Kung Fu Panda? That’s one of my favorite movies, man. One, two, and three; those movies are amazing. Darren Till calls himself a gorilla. Conor McGregor calls himself a gorilla. I want to be the Kung Fu Panda, man. ‘Kung Fu Panda’ Perry, baby. Let’s go.”
