Ride Home Rants Labor Day Episode: Denica Perry

Welcome everybody to another episode of the ride home rans podcast. This is as always your host Mike bono. I have a great guest for us today, but first and foremost, the ride home rans podcast is brought to you by my own personal merch store. These stupid should hurt merch store. I have hats, shirts, bags, coffee, mugs, water bottles, you name it.

I have it. The link for that will be in the description of this episode and every episode of the podcast. If you use the promo code welcome, you will get 5% off your entire first purchase. And again, that is the stupid should hurt merch store. My guest today though, is coming to us from Cleveland, Ohio. She is the mother of former guest in big friend of the show, Blake Perry, and she's also has her own photography business.

Danica Perry joins the show. Danica. Welcome to the show. 

Hi, how are you? I'm good.

So first and foremost, we're gonna get into your son and the fighting career and everything like that here in a minute. But first and foremost, you have a photography business. Am I right with that?

I do. I, I prefer sports. I love, uh, photographing sports event pretty much up my alley.

So I did portrait as well, portrait.

Okay. So what got you, uh, wanting to start your own photography business.

I'll tell you. I think I, I started several years ago, um, dabbling in football. Okay. So I basically followed my kids and, um, from there just pretty much blossomed. Oh, Hey, you know, you start somewhere.

Right. And taking pictures of the kids is always easy. Isn't it? Yeah. I spent probably total of 10 years down on the football field every Friday night. So I get it loved every minute of it.

I get it.  I have a 13 year old who has been in the football for the past six years. And I swear this computer is gonna kill me.

Uh, yeah, my cat spilled water on my computer. So now my enter button just sticks in and it makes that beat the noise all the time. Cuz my cats are the worst. Um, but yeah, no. So I understand, you know, even in junior high ball, you know, taking pictures, being at the field practices, mm-hmm  the whole nine yards I never used to.

That many pictures on my phone. Now I'm forever upgrading my storage on apple because it's just full of him. It's just him. No selfies, just, just him and  that's it. So I can get how it could be easy to get into photography. I get that. I'm constantly getting messages, time to upgrade. You're you're full mm-hmm  so yeah, I, I either have to upgrade or be like, all right, what?

I gotta make decisions on deleting stuff. I don't wanna do this. I'm not built for. And that's impossible. No. To pick and choose, forget it. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so where could people find you if they're wanting to, to get you for your photography? Honestly, hitting up my Instagram would be your best, your best bet.

So it's Nika Perry 48. Perfect. Yeah. Um, definitely follow your Instagram page for.  uh, to see what's going on with you and your son who, uh, just had a fight a couple weeks ago. Well, when this airs probably about a month ago. Yeah. So take me through being a fighter's mom.  is that for you? How much time you have we, Hey, I don't, I don't care.

It's supposed to be 30 minutes. I will sit here all day and listen to this cuz I am a huge Blake Perry fan. Nice. I am too.  yeah, no. It's I tell him like, Different perspective, being mom, you know, as opposed to just being, just being a fan or a supporter. Um, I tell him pretty much every time when I hug him goodbye.

Cause I try to make most of his fights that I thank you for the extra 50 gray hairs that you just gave me.  so yeah, no, I love it. I, I love what he does. Um, I get into it.  but it, it is totally different when your mom watching your, your kiddo, uh, get locked in that, that, uh, ring. So, okay. I, I gotta ask and I, I almost hate asking this question though, but how did you feel about the whole broken nose situation and them calling the fight because of his nose being in a perfect Z pattern there, what

So I'm, I'm sitting third row, um, at this last fight, so pretty close spring. And, um, I have his girlfriend's Selena next to me and my brother flew out and my nephew as well. So we're all sitting there and I'm watching it go down. He's a great fight. He's a great fight. Um, I, I see the knee to the face where, you know, posture broke down a little bit and he took it and, but he never broke strides.

He kept moving forward. And from our angle, like, you know, It was hard to see. And I think most people didn't realize that his nose was to the side of his face  and then gave the bell praying and he stood up and I saw his profile and I was like, oh my God, what, what happened? Like his nose is not there.

It's  so yeah, the mom and me was silently freaking out. So I internalized a lot of it. But I support what he does. I love him. And so I'll support him doing what he loves. So what did you think about them calling the fight? Not as mom, but as a fight fan, as a fight fan, you know, he asked me the same thing, liked it.

He's like, do you think that they should have called it? And I said, of course, you know, my first instinct is, is non that's. That's hard to right. To ignore , but.  I honestly, truly believe that if they would've continued it fight would've been. Yeah. So, um, you know, the, the mom and me was somewhat glad that they called it, but then the other half the fan in me was like, ah, let 'em fight.

So, yeah. See, I I'm indifferent, you know, because, you know, I'm, I, my son's not a fighter. I mean, he wants to wrestle, but. Not coordinated enough to, to wrestle. I mean,  someone calling like it is. Uh, but, um, you know, I, I saw the nose. Yeah. It looked bad. Um, as someone who has broken their nose plenty of times, um, I know what that's like, but when a fighter is saying, I'm fine, let me let, like, let me fight.

I'm coherent. I can breathe. I can see. Right. I don't see the issue. I understand keeping these fighters safe. Mm-hmm  I saw that and my wife just started laughing her ass off because I was sitting there and I was watching it on Instagram cuz I saw it. Um, the fight I had something to do. I couldn't watch it and try to find it and stream it live.

Cause I really wanted to, but um, I was watching it and I lost my mind. Like I was there watching the fight, like. Kidding me, let him fight, like, come on. He was, yeah, that was really the only shot that I saw that the other fighter got in was that need of the face. Is that, is that consistent? I mean, I only saw the highlights, so yeah, no, it, it was, it was up until that moment, you know, until they called it, it definitely was Blake's fight.

Yeah. I, I, I was, I was so upset for him. I messaged him, was like, dude, you got, you got screwed. I hate to say, and I hate to be that guy, but oh my God, like, why did they not let you keep fighting? He was like, I mean, I get it from a safety standpoint, but I'm still pretty upset about it. I was like, I get it.

I'm upset for you. Don't worry. I mean, you created a huge super fan and Mike Botto here for Blake Perry. I, I, I love him to death. I followed his Instagram and. Everything he's got going on in the train for life crew. I've had, uh, Terrence on and Caesar, uh, Gonzales has been on. So, you know, talking to all those guys and I, I just love combat sports.

I don't know what it is in me. I mean, I started, uh, in the boxing days and watching Ali and all them, and I loved it. And then MMA came out in the UFC and I've been hooked since day one with Ken Shamrock and all of them, and just watching them. But, um, yeah, I can understand too as well, cuz I know.  uh, what my mom was like when I played football and I was not as brutal of a sport as , as fighting and combat, but, uh, and I know how my wife is with our son in, in football too, as well.

So I can understand seeing it from a mom and parent perspective, like, ah, that's right. That's my baby out there. I don't want to, it's so hard to take out that aspect of it when I'm sitting out there. I can tell you, you keep it quieter a lot more, uh, than my, my mom did. Uh, I come from a very big Italian family and we're not the quietest of people.

Right. And I, I remember I took a big hit in a football game and the crowd went silent. That's how hard of a hit it was. And all I heard was you tried to kill my baby. And it was my mom from the stand screaming. And I was like, God, I got up. I'm fine. I didn't know. It wasn't hurt at the time. It hurt the next day.

But you know, it just the hear that right. You know, it's just like, oh man, I get what she's doing. But like I used to tell Blake when he played football, cuz he started when he was young. Um, I wanna say like third grade. So you know, they'd go out there and they'd take a hit and you know, Eight nine he'll lay there for a second because it's, it's the easy thing to do when you get cloud.

And there was a few times, so I can relate to your mom  with, uh, him taking a hit and just laying there. And you know, you just freak out you're inside going, thinking the worst. Right. So I would tell him, okay, from now on, unless you want me to March down on that.  you better if you're laying there, that's fine.

But put that hand up, give me a signal, you know, let me know. Okay. I'm fine, mom. Right?

that's definitely, that's how it worked the rest of the time. That's definitely a mom thing because my, my wife gets on me all the time. She says I'm too hard in our son and, but I'm dad, I'm supposed to. Hard autumn, you know, and you know, his, his junior high team this year, he is one of three linemen that we have on the team.

So, okay. Like he can't get hurt like this just  it's just what I tell him. Like, dude, you can't get hurt. Like I'm not trying to scare you, but the team's rely on you. You're the, one of the biggest kids on your team. You're you're four, no pressure. Yeah, no pressure, nothing money, but. I still remember last year was seventh grade ball.

It was the last game of the season. Again, he was the, the only lineman really that they had, that they didn't have any backups. It was the five linemen and that was it. Great. And he came limping off the field a little bit. He, he landed on his knee wrong when he fell and I get that hurts and he was sitting there and the coaches were talking to my wife's like your son's sitting on the bench again.

He can't afford to.  on the bench, but is he hurts? I was like, let me, let me go see. And she heard me from like six rows up. I was like, Hey dude, are you okay? He was like, my knee hurts. I like, can you walk on? He goes. Yeah. All right. Put your helmet back on, get back in the game. We have no alignment. Get in there.

Like you don't have any other choice. No, you can walk. You're fine. There's no blood, no foul. Get up here. No blood. You're good. Get in there. So yeah, I, I definitely get it, but my wife gets on me constantly. Like, oh my God, you can, you just not be so hard on him. I was like, that's a dad quality. That's just what dad are supposed to do.

We're supposed to be hard for sons.  so, and I get it too, but you, Missy has actually dabbled in the ring too as well. You actually started dancing, correct? Correct. Um, I started probably like four years ago, honestly, really? So I've been doing it for a while, but I just took a fight. I finally decided just to take the leap and um, so July 2nd, I had my first fight.

Yeah. What was that? Oh, boy, I'll tell you.  poor, poor Blake. He got more phone calls.  he was like my wing man the whole time. Um, you know, the guys in the gym, my coach is awesome. Um, soling he, uh, helps train as well out of there. And, um, so a lot of talking me down  really? Oh yeah. Just, you know, I'm 51. This is like, I'm not.

I'm not young. So, but even though I would, you know, I I've been sparing for a while. Um, so that, that part was nothing getting hit in the face. And, but it was getting out there, like all those emotions coming together, um, you know, taking a fight. My opponent was awesome. Um, she, she had had, gosh, I wanna say rough three, three fights.

Okay. And I believe she won them. So that right there in itself was a little nervewracking I'm sure. Well, 10 years younger, you know, I think nine years somewhere around in there, but nevertheless younger. So that just all that stuff comes into play when, when you're getting ready to step in. Oh. So, um, but I think my favorite part, honestly, out of the whole night was just the crab.

The crab was awesome. Yeah. And having all three of my kids there under the same.  I would joke around saying what it took me to fight for to get all of three of you under the same roof. It's been like seven years. No lie. So yeah, I have two here and two here, but to actually have all three of them under the same roof, that was the first time in like seven years.

Wow. I get that part. I moved, uh, away from my family in West Virginia, into Ohio given I'm not that far away as California, as Blake when he was in Hawaii and all that, you know, so I understand that. Um, right. And I know how hard it is for me to get back two hours to, to see my family and my two older sisters and having us all under, under one roof and, you know, yeah.

Anybody has their lives, things going on, the kids are doing this and that. I have three grandkids. So they're, you know, they're busy, it's hard. Right. And so that, that was one thing, you know, did you get a lot of flack people being like, well, you're a grandmother. Why are you. Um, not really, there, there was a lot of shock and surprise.

Okay. Um, a few people like, Ooh, what are you, what are you thinking? You know? And I'm like, what? It's something I do every day. I'm in the gym, six, seven days a week, honestly. So that part is not, not any good turn. It just was taking it to the next level and actually fighting in front of like 500. And, um, and all of that.

So that, that was the hardest part for me was just controlling the nerves. Um, yeah. I, I, I get that. I, uh, took TaeKwonDo when I was younger and got into some tournaments and stuff like that there. So I, I, I fought a little bit, uh, nothing to the level of Blake or anything like that, but I still know the nerves of like, all right.

I gotta get into this ring and yeah, I've sparred and me and my teammates, we've trained and we've, we've hit each other. Right. I've been hit and it, it's fine. And now it's like, all right, but this is somebody else. This is somebody I don't know. And I've, I have no idea they're fighting style. I have, I have not really sure what to do.

And. You know, it, it is, is what it is, but you know, it, it's definitely nerve wracking to get into that ring and, you know, kudos for you for actually stepping into the ring and getting in there. Cause you know, I, I thought about it when I was younger, uh, getting into mixed martial arts and everything like that.

Uh, but decided I was a better swimmer than I was a fighter, which, um, little less strain on my body. I was  right. Say that a lot less strain. Uh, but honestly, I, I, I wish I would have pursued it and you know, I'm only 33, but that it's still, oh, you're gone. See you say that. You say that, but my, my, I have 20, my body feels like it's 104.

Like yeah. I have days like that. Let me tell you. Yeah. Especially after you eat a few punches. Yeah. Your, your neck and your joints and they tell you, okay, they, you, you are 50.  . Yeah. And I, I, I tell you this though, it's, it's weird to me because you know, people always, oh, you're 33. You're so young. You're so young.

It's like, yeah. I also played contact sports my entire life. So like everything from the neck down hurts mm-hmm  and you know, it, it was really hit me. Like, yeah, I am starting to get a little bit older in that I woke up one day and my back was completely. I, I, and I just bought a brand new $2,500 mattress.

You know, one of the, the best ones you can buy the pillows, everything that goes with it. I probably spent about three, four grand on a bed to sleep better. And I wake up in my backs out, like, that's where I'm at in my life. Like that's yeah, that's, it's rough. It is there's days where I get up outta bed and I'm like, Ooh, I feel good today.

And then there's days where it takes me a few minutes. To warm up. Yeah. Yeah. I, I back and, you know, my joints hurt and yeah, I, I tell, uh, all of my nieces and nephews and all my friends that are younger than me, like under 30, I'm like, you wait, you're gonna hit 30. And that check engine, light's gonna, it's gonna come on.

And I don't think mine's ever coming off. Cause it's, it doesn't feel like it right now. Uh, for sure. But Danka, we are running down near the end of the episode here, and I know you got, uh, a busy day ahead of you too, as well. And fitty will kill me if I don't get this segment in. So, uh, if you're ready, I know, you know what it is.

It's the fast, fitty five. I do. I'm gonna do my best here.  and he sent these to me today, as you know, cuz he knew we were recording today. So I will be reading these for the first time with you  okay. So if you're ready, Danika. All right, let's do it. All right. Question number one, is ice cream in a cup or a cone?

Better? Ooh, cup cup. Okay. Uh, question number two. Is flavored, watered, overrated or underrated? Uh, I think it's overrated. I, I gotta go just straight up water. Just straight water. All right. Yes, God. I just read question three. Um, and question number three. Would you rather be a honey bee or a grasshopper? Ooh, I'm going with that honey bee, honey bee with a honey bee.

Yes.  which is the best flavor of potato chips. Oh, oh. Oh boy. I like cheddar cheddar, cheddar. Okay. Mm-hmm . Yes. And question number five is a dishwasher, overrated or underrated. Oh my goodness. Mine just broke like a couple weeks ago and I'll tell you what

clearly. So it's, um, underrated, underrated. Yeah, for sure. Um, I never really had one and then I had one, so I get it. Yeah. They are an underrated commodity. I can't live. Yeah. I, I remember, uh, during the pandemic I wasn't working, my wife was, and you know, she had came home and she, I was sitting on the couch and I, I was just happened to be playing video games at the time.

She was like, what are you doing? I was like, oh, I'm doing the dishes. She's like, what? And I was like, I'm doing the dishes. She was like, But you're sitting on the couch. It's like, yeah, they're in the dishwasher. They're almost done. I, yeah, I got a few more minutes than that. I'm doing the dish.  absolutely it counts, but yeah.

Okay. Danika, uh, give every guest this opportunity, uh, when they come on the show. So I'm gonna give you about a minute. The floor. Is yours there? Anything you wanna promote get out there, or even if it's just a good message. The floor is yours. All right. So I gotta give my gym a shout out, left the chin in east lake.

So those guys are awesome. If you ever get a chance, stop on up, take class. Um, you'll love it and go in with train for life. I gotta give them a shout out. They're like family too. They're um, amazing people. Um, I see why Blake loves it so much. And given my kids a shout out all three of them, Zach Blake and Maya, and my grandkids, adding them and dos, um, trying to think who else I think that's pretty much it really.

All right. Um, and I think maybe end on the note that I think everybody's making. The big deal out of me being 51 and fighting for the first time.  so, um, don't let H stop you. I, I guess that would be my message. Okay. If don't, don't say someday, just do it, just do it, have no regrets and, um, we'll be better off for it.

All right. And I, I love it when people have a message at the end of the end of the episodes, and obviously a big shout out to your gym. Uh, as you said, it was taken on the chin, is that what left? Left to the chin left to the chin. Sorry about that. And obviously train for life and everybody out there, uh, Blake, all your kids and your grandkids, um, You got one hell of a mom and grandma here, uh, for everyone out there, this  this woman getting in the ring at 51 is just, it makes me feel, uh, pretty lazy.

I'm gonna, I'm not gonna lie. Uh  I haven't been to the gym and probably over a decade. Uh, so there's that, but the nigga, thank you for coming on to the show. I really do appreciate your time and you know, getting to talk to us here on the ride on rans podcast. Thank you for having me. Yeah, it was awesome.

Not a problem, but that it go ahead. Oh, I was gonna add that. Um, when I first got your message, I was standing next to my daughter and, um,  reading it. And I showed it to her. I said, am I reading this right?  they wanna talk to me?  yes, we do. I was like, I dunno, maybe they meant to send it to someone else. Nope.

I did not mean to send that to anyone else that was meant strictly for you in having you on the show. Made my day. Let me tell you, well, I'm glad I could make somebody's day. That's the job of a committee. And if I could make somebody smile, tell 'em that they, I made their day. I did my job. So  Danka. You did your job.

Thank you again, but that is going to do it for this week's episode of the ride home rands podcast. As always, if you like the show, be a friend, tell a friend, if you didn't tell 'em many ways, they might like it just because you didn't, that is going to do it for me. And I will see Y. Next week.