BK Nation caught up with The Archangel before his title fight at BKFC 62.
(Photo Courtesy: BKFC)
John Michael “Jomi” Escoboza (9-1, 5 KO’s) has taken an unorthodox path to becoming one of the best active bare knucklers today. With a BYB championship already on his mantle, he now has the opportunity to add a BKFC belt at BKFC 62 on June 21st.
Dreaming of becoming a fighter since he was four years old, his parents were not as keen on the idea of a life in combat. They wouldn’t let him train, no matter how hard he begged. It wasn’t until after his first year of college football that Jomi got his first taste of martial arts as he began to train in Kung-Fu, eventually leading to the nickname “Jomi Kung-Fu”.
Shortly after, Escoboza began competing as an amateur MMA fighter, where he would earn more experience, (and a little money) fighting in the backyard scene in Miami, the same group started by Kimbo Slice.
Escoboza made the jump to the professional scene in 2015 by joining BYB Extreme, winning by decision in his debut. After a brief stint back in MMA, Jomi returned to bare knuckle and went on a three-fight stoppage streak, eventually winning the BYB 185-lb championship before entering free agency.
In February of 2022, Jomi would make his debut in BKFC. In just his second fight in the new promotion he would experience his first setback against Jared Warren (6-2, 5 KO’s). But since that fight he has gone 2-0, with one stoppage and has earned the opportunity to face Warren again and this time for the BKFC Light Heavyweight Title. He credits the success that he has had in the sport to one thing.
“My annoying style of constant output and constant pressure jabs, constantly hitting you at different levels of strength. With no gloves, there will be cuts and lots of visible damage… I slice people up with the jab, get you annoyed with it and now you’re thinking about the jab, and then the power (left hand) just starts dropping and it gets worse from there.”
(Photo Courtesy: BKFC)
But in his most recent fight, Escoboza was on the receiving end of an equally annoying style. Isaac Doolittle spent the entire fight trying to close the distance, entering the clinch and working from inside. But with his MMA training and nine bare knuckle fights to that point, this wasn’t foreign territory for the Miami product.
“Going into that fight I knew that was his style. Good head movement, he’s a grappler…So I knew in the fight I had to be super active in the clinch, I either had to wrap him up and drop my weight on him, or punch him in the face and the body, do something. I can’t just let him be active in the clinch.”
This shows why having a diverse fighting background is such an advantage for Escoboza. With more than 10 MMA fights (amateur and pro) on his résumé and now having 10 bouts in bare knuckle, the clinch is not something he needs to get used to, it’s something he knows. While he did eventually finish the fight in the third round, Jomi still felt his performance should have been better.
“The day after the fight, I went to my coach's house and we always watch the fights, go over everything. We counted at least 40 uppercuts within the first three rounds that I should’ve thrown. I should’ve finished the fight a lot earlier.”
That win was the tipping point in his BKFC tenure that earned him the title shot on June 21st, at BKFC 62. Across the squared circle will stand Warren, the only man to defeat Jomi in bare knuckle action.
While he knows what he could’ve done better against Doolittle, he knows what went wrong against Warren without even putting the fight on screen.
“I felt way too relaxed. I went out there and just threw single jabs, didn't even do double jabs, and just fought super nonchalant… When the bell rang at the end of the fight, I looked down at my big left hand and thought the ref almost stopped the fight multiple times because of the cut you put on him, and you didn't follow it up, are you stupid? I was so mad at myself.”
A complete 180º from his trademark “annoying” style. When talking about getting to face Warren again, he stated, “It’s not revenge, it’s vengeance… It’s going to be bad, because I’m going to land punches, a lot of punches. I’m coming with a vengeance, this is something that's been brewing for years. You’re going to see a lot of blood, and it ain’t going to be my blood.”
(Photo Courtesy: BKFC)
Escoboza will have a chance at North American bare knuckle history when he faces Warren on June 21st. With a win, he will become the first two promotion champion at 185-lbs. A weight class that Jomi Kung-Fu wants to stamp his name on.
“That's always been my goal, to grab all the 185 belts from all the worthy organizations to really establish myself as the 185-GOAT.”
“There’s only two different ways my fights can end. It's either my opponent breaks because of pressure and something hits them from a 20 punch combination, or the doctor stops the fight, because the longer my fights go the worse the damage is going to be.”
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