“Platinum” Mike Perry is a rising UFC Welterweight.

The young Floridian is already an extremely popular young contender; he will look to bounce himself into the upper echelon of the division this Saturday at UFC Orlando.

This Monday, Perry appeared on The MMA Hour to discuss his troubled upbringing. Perry’s spiral culminated with a stint in jail. According to Perry it was,

“Best and worst experience of my life, I have to say, because it changed my life. It was like a school for hard heads. There’s two ways you can go, you can go the other way. You either learn or you don’t.”

Perry told an unfortunate but hilarious story about how, at the age of 19, Perry and two friends were convicted for burglary. They entered the house and immediately left when they heard police cars. They got into their vehicle which was parked down the street, and watched the cops race past towards the house. Against Perry’s advice, his friends didn’t want to pull out and drive away. Eventually the cops noticed their car and parked blocking any escape. Perry proposed a story that they were waiting for some girls, but one of his friends caved and confessed.

Perry was originally sentenced to two years house arrest and two years probation. He had made it through 18 months when he failed a drug test, which led to finishing his term in jail. Perry said that he was deeply impacted by the the conditions in prison.

“You can’t use the bathroom by yourself. There’s 20 toilets and 20 showers and you can’t shower by yourself.”

Two days out of prison, Perry took a job at a local UFC Gym, and his career blossomed from there. Now, at 26, with a 4-2 UFC record he will face Max Griffin at Saturday’s UFC on FOX 28.

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