An inside look into BKFC’s monumental show in Sturgis, South Dakota.
Bare Knuckle Nation had a chance to speak to BKFC matchmaker Nate Shook ahead of BKFC 63 in Sturgis, South Dakota. Below is our Q&A where we get an inside look at the thought process into how each match was made.
Answers have been edited from clarity and brevity.
Adam Hunt: It's been a long time since we've seen Britain Hart in the ring, but now she's coming back and against a very accomplished contender in Taylor Starling. How did we get to this point?
Nate Shook: This is an absolutely amazing card headlined by an exciting title fight that people have been talking about now for probably over a year.
People wanted to see this fight, it just made sense to have these two women, the best in their weight class, come together and compete. Sturgis is going to have a lot of eyeballs on it, we're expecting 25-30,000 people at the event. So there's going to be all those people that have the opportunity to watch.
Hunt: Hart is the inaugural champion of the weight class and has looked phenomenal since moving to 115. What did you see from Starling in that fight with Jenny Savage, that you knew that she was ready for the title shot against Hart?
Shook: Well, she's always been top of the weight class at 125 pounds, but she was a smaller fighter and when we saw her compete against, Christine Ferea for the championship, it was just a matter of time before we knew she was going to have to go down to her more natural weight, cut the extra couple pounds and compete at 115. We saw from her very first fight in bare knuckle against Charisa Sigala, she's willing to take those punches, and I think against another female, her own size, that this could be a five-round war.
Hunt: In the co-main event, we've got a rematch, JD Burns and Sam Shewmaker. Where did this one come from?
Shook: Two larger than life heavyweights who throw just massive heat, this is a fight that we feel the fans there are going to absolutely love. Josh won the first matchup, but I don't want to say that that's going to automatically dictate what's going to happen in this one. And when Sam touches people they go to sleep, I don't see this one going five rounds. These guys are going to try to take each other's head off, and afterward they shake hands.
Hunt: Josh Dyer vs. Will Albrecht. Dyer, number two ranked light heavyweight in the world, how did you decide on Albrecht, for him?
Shook: Dyer has fought a lot of people, but his last two fights ended in no contest. So, we had a couple different possibilities, but when it came down to it, Will had a dominant performance in his debut for us. The big criticism we're getting is his age, but I don't want to say age is just a number, but he performed very, very well. And if he doesn't step up in competition now, then he might not have the chance, a win for him here could catapult him to, a fight away from a title fight.
When you see Dyer’s fighting style, he's in there and he's 100%, just go from the time the bell rings until the fight is over. He can compete with the best and earn a shot at the title. And the current champion, Jared Warren, he holds a victory over him.
Hunt: And then we go back to the heavyweights. Josh Watson and Reuben Roundstone. Josh Watson is possibly one of the most entertaining guys in all of bare knuckle. And Reuben Roundstone, another guy who loves to entertain, two guys that are going to put on a show for the fans, was that even a thought that came in your mind, or was this strictly in-ring matchup based?
Shook: So, Josh Watson is fireworks inside there and we want to get him back in here soon. And again with the Sturgis crowd, we felt we wanted more heavyweight fights on this card. People love to see large men throwing fist and more than likely you have knockouts. So, on a card of this magnitude, we felt it was important that we had an abundance of heavyweight fights.
Reuben Roundstone took the last fight, on short notice against an experienced fighter. So when I pitched it to Ruben again, he said yes. Like whatever he could do to make it happen. He said “I'll drive. I'll fly. Whatever you need. Get me on the card. Let me show you what I can do with a training camp.”
Hunt: Michael Larrimore vs. Derrick Perez. Larrimore is a guy who’s been in there for two fights, but his time actually in the squared circle, it's got to be less than a round. He's in there against a tough guy in Derek Perez, who’s fought some of the best in the world. So this is a big test for a guy like Michael Larrimore.
Shook: Larrimore does not have a lot of time inside the squared circle. Two wins, very little time. So very little experience. Derrick Perez is not a fighter that goes out easy. He's just so durable. I think Larrimore is at a point where we need to see how he reacts when he doesn't just steamroll his competition.
Having someone who is notably durable, with much more bare knuckle experience and time in the ring, how does that play into effect? And, will the longer the fight go, will that favor Derek Perez or will we see Larrimore be able to keep his cardio, make adjustments, or is it going to be a quick finish one way or the other? I think this is going to tell us a lot about Larrimore in the world of bare knuckle fighting.
Hunt: And then another guy who seems to always steal the show every time he's there just you know just must-see TV, is Zach Calmus, and he takes on Paul Shough.
Shook: As you said, he is a must-see fight he always comes and gets into a blood-bath war. If you want to see action, if you want to see heart, grit, blood, and what bare knuckle is about, Zach Calmus had to be on the card out of all names.
That's not to take away from Shough. Right, he has three fights under his belt. He's been in there with one of the best heavyweights in the world in Perdomo. I expect both these guys to really steal the show. And this could be, if I had to pick, could be the fight of the night.
Hunt: We've got Donnie Tice vs. Brandon Conley, and this is Conley's debut, for BKFC, while having some MMA and boxing experience. What was it about Conley that made you bring him to BKFC and put him up against Donnie Tice?
Shook: So Tice fought for us on shorter notice, on the Edmonton card. And he's not a true heavyweight in my opinion. He has the punching power of a heavyweight, but I feel that cruiserweight is a better weight class for him.
Conley actually can make 185. I believe he's a Guinness Book record holder for the bench press. He's fought heavyweight, he's fought 205. I can't imagine him fighting at heavyweight after meeting him , but I just saw him knock out a heavyweight not too long ago. So I hope when lose or draw after this fight, I hope he goes down to 185 and we can see what he’d do there.
Hunt: And then finally, to kick the entire thing off, Timmy Mason and Gabriel Freyre, both looking for their first BKFC win.
Shook: My idea here was I want to start off the card with fighters that will go toe-to-toe and fast paced. I think it's the perfect fight to start off this card, leading us into the cruiserweights and Zach Calmus and Paul Shough and then an absolutely stacked upper card.
If you've never seen bare knuckle, this card will make you a fan.
Full BKFC 63 Card:
Britain Hart (c) vs. Taylor Starling - BKFC Strawweight Title Fight
Sam Shewmaker vs. JD Burns
Josh Dyson vs. Will Albrecht
Bryant Acheson vs. Joseph Creer
Robert Armas vs. Jack Grady
Josh Watson vs. Ruben Roundstone
Michael Larrimore vs. Derrick Perez
Zach Calmus vs. Paul Shough
Donnie Tice Jr. vs. Bardon Conley
Gabriel Freyre vs. Timmy Mason
All Photos Courtesy of BKFC.
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