Mike Perry and Luke Rockhold are taking off the gloves ... the MMA stars are fighting bare-knuckled, and Platinum believes the former UFC champion is underestimating him in a big way!
"I do think he is in for a rude awakening because I don't think he thinks I have what it takes [to beat him]. I think he thinks so highly of himself that he's just too big for me," 31-year-old Perry told TMZ Sports this week.
FYI, Luke has a few-inch height advantage, and likely a few pounds on Mike, too.
Perry continued ... "I'm looking to be ferocious and jump all over him quickly. Bareknuckle is not like normal boxing where the fight really starts around the 6th round. These are 5 to 6, 2-minute rounds."
In other words ... except violence as soon as the bell sounds.
"I'm gonna try to cut him up a lot and make him quit," adding ... "I'm gonna try to hurt him badly, quickly."
Platinum, 2-0 in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (one of those wins came against Michael "Venom" Page), also plans to give Luke a new nickname.
"Luke Out-Cold."
And, Perry and Rockhold aren't the only big names on the BKFC 41 card ... 'cause former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Chad Mendes are also fighting.
We also talked to Mendes ahead of what is his second bare-knuckle scrap (Chad won a fight last February), but Alvarez is certainly a step up in competition.
This time around, Chad tells us he has a secret weapon to reduce cuts ... a side effect when bare-knuckle boxing.
His secret ... pickle juice! 🥒
Check out the clips!