The new face of Canadian bare knuckle?
(Photo courtesy: BKFC)
If one were to dream up a movie script about the quintessential Canadian bare knuckle boxer, they could more or less take the life of Tyler Tremblett and put it on the screen.
The 32-year-old makes his second bare knuckle appearance this Friday night against Jason Douglas at the Red Deer Resort and Casino in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada as part of Havoc FC’s presentation being aired on Millions. It just so happens that his work in the Canadian oil fields happened to take him to Red Deer the week of the fight, meaning Tremblett can remain in the same city the week of a fight, rather than drive his camper van from the worksite to the venue as he has in the past.
Tremblett, nicknamed “Big Nasty,” made a splash in the bare knuckle world with his dominant knockout victory over Donnie Tice at BKFC’s first event in Canada back in March of this year. But before he hit the combat sports big screen, his start in the world of fighting was about as Canadian as an all-denim outfit at a Blue Rodeo concert.
Tremblett grew up in Saint John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, had a stint in Ontario for trades school before packing his van and driving all the way to Alberta, where he now has landing spots in several spots. The town of Cold Lake is his home base, along with less than 15,000 others in the oil and military town where the record low temperature is in the neighborhood of -50. He also spends time in Edmonton and Calgary for training sessions, as well as Kitimat, British Columbia. The irony is not lost on him that one of Canada’s best up and coming bare knuckle fighters lives a lifestyle reminiscent of the travellers who planted and sew the roots of the sport.
“I was a little bit of a scrapper, street fights and all that. Coming from a small town, that was the thing to do,” said Tremblett, who dabbled with MMA training after high school, but never quite stuck with it.
In his adult years in Cold Lake, Tremblett started getting the itch to fight again, and happened to know a friend who was training in the garage of former minor league hockey enforcer Dean Mayrand. As you do in northern Alberta, if you want to learn how to fight, you call up the man who literally won the Battle Of The Hockey Enforcers in 2005.
Mayrand immediately saw potential in Tremblett, his complete lack of hesitation when it came to contact, and his desire for discipline and structure. As much as Tremblett loved the physicality he also loved the culture. Not only did the partnership lead to him becoming an 8-0 undefeated amateur boxer and later a pro in gloved boxing, but the two partnered up and opened Cold Lake’s first and only boxing gym, Titans Boxing Club, along with Jordan Blythe and Tim Chemelli.
To date, Tremblett is 2-2 with one knockout in pro boxing, with his biggest and most recent fight coming against UK prospect Harvey Dykes in the Cayman Islands. Tremblett took the fight on relatively short notice, and worked the training he had time for in between his twelve to fourteen hour night shifts in Kitimat. Ultimately, it wasn’t even the fight itself that may turn out to be the most consequential moment of his career, but rather, what happened while he was on the shuttle to the venue that day.
Tremlett had been sending highlight reels and footage to BKFC for months, trying to score a spot in one of its open tryouts across the United States. Eventually, with its Lethbridge card scheduled, the company hosted a tryout in Edmonton, and Tremblett finally got his shot to show his skills. When he arrived that day, he realized that the most important attribute of a BKFC prospect is simply being willing to take the gloves off. The number of fighters he expected to be there that day was quite a bit larger than what was actually there.
“I dunno how many people they invited, but only 17 showed up. A lot of guys talk tough but then are like, I'm not going,” said Tremblett. “It's a totally different game. I'm all bare knuckle man, I love it.”
While he was sitting in the van on the way to the venue in the Cayman Islands, with his opponent Dykes sitting right behind him, Tremblett’s phone started buzzing. On the other end was Chris Lytle, BKFC commentator and talent scout, who offered him a spot on the March show in Lethbridge. With the man he was scheduled to face in a few hours sitting inches away from him and clearly able to hear what was going on, Tremblett verbally signed on for a BKFC fight.
His debut couldn’t have gone any better, scoring a parade of knockdowns on Tice before closing the show in the second round for a TKO victory. Among the fighters who competed on the undercard of Jade Masson-Wong vs. Gabrielle Roman that night, it was Tremblett who most noticeably jumped off the screen.
“There's a big opportunity for it, and I think it matches my style,” said Tremblett. “I wanna be the (male) face of bare knuckle in Canada. You've got Jade Masson-Wong, she's kinda the face of the women's division, unreal fighter. The men's division needs one, and I'm willing to do it. Put it on me boys.”
As he awaits his next BKFC opportunity, Tremblett will look to boost his record in Red Deer against Douglas in Havoc FC, one of Canada’s only promotions to have promoted bare knuckle boxing. It’s an important event for the sport, the possible beginning of a true grassroots, national bare knuckle scene where talent could be cultivated and kept busy outside of the two major North American outfits.
In Douglas, Tremblett faces a man he’s plenty familiar with. Douglas was a 13-4 pro boxer before effectively retiring in 2005 after a loss to Michael Hunter. He made a return to fighting sans gloves on Havoc’s last event in February, stopping Lee Mein in the third round of a wild heavyweight battle, but he was also alongside Tremblett at the BKFC tryouts.
“I'm not too worried. I'm gonna overpower him. I'm a lot bigger and stronger than him. Once I touch him, I think he's gonna realize like he's over his head,” said Tremblett. “As soon as that bell rings, it's game on. No hesitation whatsoever, I'm gonna do what I've gotta do.”
The role of the face of Canadian bare knuckle in the women’s division is certainly open for casting, and Tremblett’s toque is in the ring. A 6’3”, 240-pound heavyweight knockout artist who works 14-hour shifts in Alberta winters, travels around the country with his camper and learned to box with a legendary hockey enforcer is quite the leading character. It might not get more perfect than that.
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