Karate Combat star Samuel Ericsson has opened up about what it is like to spar with Mike Perry.

Ericsson, 30, is currently preparing for his first fight in almost 18 months against Tarek Khelfi, and recently got the chance to spar with Perry during a trip to the United States ahead of the December 17 bout.

Discussing sparring with the former UFC fighter, Ericsson exclusively told GIVEMESPORT.com: "Mike Perry is a f***ing crazy guy, man.

"He actually punched me so hard his knuckles started bleeding so we had to stop.

"I think he punched my elbow or my hip bone or something."

Asked if there was anything he could take away from their impromptu sparring session, he replied: "I learned I could take quite a lot of damage [laughs].

"He wasn't holding back that much. Of course he was holding back a bit but not that much. I think you can see from the video that we weren't pulling any punches.

READ MORE: Meet Samuel Ericsson, the Karate Combat fighter Joe Rogan calls ‘really talented’

Samuel Ericsson takes on Tarek Khelfi at Karate Combat 37 on December 17

"We didn't go light. We were going kind of hard. We did some pretty hard rounds.

"He thought I was a tough dude. He said I probably have 20 kilos on you and a lot of people that I spar with gloves go down with these types of punches. He gave me some positive feedback and a little bit of a boost.

"He said that he had followed me now for some time and he was impressed with what I am doing which was nice of him."

Looking ahead to his fight with Khelfi, Ericsson is expecting a career-best performance.

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He added: "I think I will be too fast and too explosive for him.

"I feel like I have improved a lot since last time. I feel like I have improved mentally as well. I feel like everything has slotted into place.

"As you know last time I was dealing with a lot of things outside of The Pit. Now I've moved camps I've been able to work on a few things in training. I've got a few new weapons to use at my disposal.

"Fans can expect to see Samuel Ericsson 2.0, for sure."

Good news, fight fans! Karate Combat 37 will be shown free-to-air on YouTube in the UK, with tickets available to purchase via www.karate.com/tickets.