Video: Luke Rockhold jokingly puts Mike Perry in choke after BKFC 41 staredown

Luke Rockhold will only throw hands with Mike Perry at BKFC 41, but the former UFC middleweight champion returned to his MMA roots – if only for a moment – after a staredown on Thursday.

Prior to their 185-pound main event, Rockhold and Perry faced off against each other following the pre-fight press conference. While things got a little chippy as the fighters jockeyed for position during the staredown, nothing spun out of control.

Perry even offered to let Rockhold hold his “platinum” title he wore throughout the press conference.

Once the faceoff was finished, Perry turned to walk away and Rockhold quickly grabbed him in a rear-naked choke — all in good fun — before letting go as he smiled at the two-time BKFC veteran.

While Perry has two wins during his bare-knuckle career including a victory over Bellator star Michael “Venom” Page, this will be Rockhold’s first foray into the sport after securing his release from the UFC.

Both fighters have promised a knockout with Rockhold touting his size and power advantage while Perry leaning on durability and experience.

In the co-main event, former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez also makes his bare-knuckle fighting debut against Chad Mendes, who currently sports a 1-0 record in BKFC.

Perhaps the most tense faceoff came between BKFC flyweight champion Christine Ferea and UFC and Bellator veteran Bec Rawlings. While Rawlings was stoic during the staredown, Ferea kept shouting in her face until the fighters were eventually separated.

There will be one final faceoff on Friday during the official weigh-ins with BKFC 41 scheduled for Saturday night with the main card kicking off at 9 p.m. ET from Colorado.

Please go to MMAFighting.com to read full article.