There's been quite a bit of hype on the regional level to see a Perrin vs. Cupcakes 2, and Cage Titans' return card at a full-capacity crowd seemed to make a whole-lotta sense when it came to booking the most anticipated rematch in New England MMA history.........prove me wrong. But things just didn't work out. After multiple call outs from both sides, the timing didn't seem to work for Johnny "CupCakes" Campbell (21-13). His recent high-profile victory over Henry Corrales at Bellator 258 gave Campbell some leverage to play with, and he's looking to get another opportunity, or possibly a multi-fight deal, with the 2nd largest MMA promotion in the world, and taking a fight with Perrin on the regional scene is now a bigger "roll of the dice" than he thought when he first started pushing the rematch on social media.
A loss to Perrin pretty much dashes Johnny's hopes of getting a multi-fight deal with Bellator. A win over Perrin continues to build his legacy in New England, and builds on his recent success against high caliber competition. "Cupcakes" is 10-4 over the last 4.5 years, and is 5-1 in the last 2 years. Perrin poses a big threat to Cupcakes' future in the sport, and I understand why he backed away from the bout.
Perrin on the other hand, is one big regional win away from getting the call to compete on the Contender Series, and another quality win over "Cupcakes" may be just what the doctor ordered. Perrin has made the move out to Las Vegas to train and teach at Syndicate MMA - one of the top gyms in the country when it comes to producing major promotion talent. He's left New England for greener pastures, and as of now....it's a decision that the "Joker" is incredibly happy with.
"Joker" has been very public on social media recently, making it known that no-one wants to fight him. As he says in the interview below, "I've gotten crickets". Referring to responses from fighters he's called out at 135 pounds over the last few months. One fighter that didn't "cricket" on Perrin is Lauzon MMA's Andy "The Raging Korean"Aiello (5-3). The 37 year old Aiello took the fight, but wanted it at 3 rounds, as the short time frame didn't allow him to properly train for a 5 round title fight. Although Aiello doesn't pose the same resume as some of Perrin's previous opponents, he's not taking the highly-skilled Aiello lightly.
Perrin has won 8 of his last 9 fights, and he knows that he's knocking on the door of the UFC. An impressive win here over Andy Aiello may just be enough to push him over the hump. Don't let his focus on Aiello fool you; Perrin has his sights set on a rematch with his arch nemesis, saying, "After I win in a dominant performance, I'm going to look into the crowd and see everyone that had crickets for me. I'm going to shake my head at you, because to me....you're a coward. Because you didn't answer the call you could have." Obviously those words are intended for one man and one man only. Hopefully we'll see the most highly-anticipated rematch in New England MMA history soon.
Check out the full interview with Steve Domenico below.
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