Jefferson's Perry back from broken nose, looking forward to next MMA bout

Feb. 28—Jefferson graduate Blake Perry got some big-time publicity when his nose was broken during his second professional MMA fight and the image of it twisted out of place went viral.

Perry suffered the injury during a loss on July 31 against Marcel McCain. He wanted to continue, but the fight was stopped.

Now, Perry is fully healed up and ready to go for his third professional fight on Friday night at the Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego.

Perry (1-1-0) faces Joshua Nakagawa (2-2-0) in a 170-pound welterweight bout during a match of Cage Warriors 149.

The event is available to watch by signing up for a $9.99 monthly pass at www.ufcfightpass.com. The subscription also allows viewers to watch any archived bouts.

The first bout of Cage Warriors 149 starts at 8 p.m. EST and will be televised live around the world.

Perry considers Nakagawa to be a well-rounded opponent, a style he says is simpler to face because he can focus more on his own style and training without worrying about any specific counters to a particular fighting style his opponent may have.

Nakagawa is 5 feet 10 inches, while Perry stands 6-3, meaning he will have a reach advantage against his opponent.

"Reach and height can be an advantage if you use it right," Perry said.

After suffering his broken nose in his last fight, Perry had to get it reset back into place by a doctor and he was taken by ambulance directly from the arena to the local hospital in Stockton, Calif.

"When it happened, it honestly didn't hurt as much as you think just because you have so much adrenaline going, but by the time they reset it was a few hours after the fight and my adrenaline was all gone," Perry said. "So, I definitely felt that."

Despite the discomfort and pain from an injury that isn't uncommon in MMA fights, Perry said the image of his nose being twisted and broken may help him career-wise.

"Leaving the arena, I didn't think a whole lot of it, and then the next thing I know my friends were telling me to check my phone and I could see it was kind of blowing up," he said. "I wasn't expecting that at all. I'll take it. Any publicity is good in the long run for getting my name out there for fights."

It was posted on a UFC social media account and covered by outlets such as TMZ and the New York Post and others, Perry said.

Afterward, Perry avoided contact to his nose and wore a full-face cover mask for eight weeks, but continued training on his own with a punching bag and conditioning workouts.

Now that his injury is in the past and fully healed, Perry feels better than ever and has kept his weight at a healthy range without crash dieting and left him feeling stronger for his upcoming match.

"I feel really good this camp, I think physically the best I've ever felt in a camp in general," Perry said. "I feel healthy and just really excited to get out there and show everything I've been working on with my team out here at Nobody MMA in California and really focusing on pinpointing details about my game and I'm excited to showcase that."

Perry, 28, graduated from Jefferson High School in 2013 and completed his college degree in history at Baldwin Wallace University in 2017.

He wrestled for the Falcons in the 182-pound weight class and was a three-time district qualifier. At Baldwin Wallace, he started in the 157-pound weight class and finished his college wrestling career at 184 pounds.

Perry in his first professional fight on April 22 defeated Makoa Cooper by submission in the second round during the first match of the Bellator 278 event.

"I want to say thank you to everyone back home watching, that's what means the most to me," Perry said. "The coolest is when my high school or elementary school friends or whoever it is from back home reach out and tell me they're watching."

Perry now lives in Suisun City, Calif., and in addition to his MMA career, he serves full-time in the U.S. Air Force at Travis Air Force base in Fairfield, Calif., as a mechanic for cargo planes.

He plans to continue his military career through June 2024, as he just signed a contract extension.