‘Platinum’ Mike Perry — a star in the UFC — punched an elderly man in the face at a Texas restaurant Tuesday night in a violent, angry rage … and the entire incident was caught on video.
Witnesses tell TMZ Sports … the whole thing started when Perry got into a physical altercation with someone at his table at the Table 82 restaurant in Lubbock, TX around 10:30 PM on Tuesday night.
We’re told a restaurant staffer approached Perry — who had been ordering Berry Mojitos — and asked him to leave the restaurant.
But instead of leaving, the witness says Perry PUNCHED the employee in the eye. We’re told the employee suffered injuries.
That’s when our video begins … you can see people — including Perry’s girlfriend — are trying to get Mike to leave the restaurant, but he won’t go peacefully and drops several N-bombs on the way out.
It doesn’t appear the N-word was directed at any Black people in the restaurant — Perry is known to casually throw the word around in daily conversation.
As Perry and his GF left the dining area and walked outside, several men followed him out … and things again escalated.
One of the older men got too close to Perry and Mike swung — connecting with a haymaker from his right hand.
The older man went down — and we’re told he was later transported to a hospital with injuries.
As for Perry, he sat down on a ledge and challenged witnesses to call police — which they did.
When cops arrived, we’re told a report was taken but Perry was NOT arrested. We’re still trying to get more info from law enforcement.
Aside from the alleged battery, we’re told Perry also left without paying his bill and sources tell us the restaurant is considering pursuing a theft charge.
We reached out to Table 82 for comment and an attorney for the restaurant told us, “Pending the criminal investigation, we prefer not to comment further because one of the victims was an employee of our company who had asked Mr. Perry to leave.”
We reached out to Perry for comment but didn’t hear back. However he did offer an official “no comment” on his Twitter page.
Perry is 14-6 as a professional MMA fighter — defeating Mickey Gall on June 27 … with his GF acting as his cornerman.
We’ve reached out to Perry for comment — so far, no word back.
The whole incident reminds us of Conor McGregor — who also punched an elderly man at a pub in Ireland back in 2019.
TMZSports.com
Originally Published — 6:48 PM PT