Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, The World’s Fastest Growing Combat Sports Promotion, hosted its Final Press Conference for BKFC 56, the promotion’s biggest ever event, today at Bucked Up Headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT ahead of Saturday’s must-see showcase event at Maverik Center in Salt Lake City.
Here are some highlights from the event:
“Platinum” Mike Perry (3-0, No. 1 contender in BKFC middleweight division), who fights fellow combat sports icon Eddie Alvarez (1-0) for the inaugural King of Violence Championship
"This is absolutely the biggest fight of my career. Eddie has experience with BKFC; I think you learn a lot from your first one. I want a (expletive) battle, dude. I'm sorry, boss, what I've gotta do to your Philly boy, man."
"I've still got some weight to cut. I think I'm going to blow up after I weigh in. I don't know how much Eddie is going to blow up because he was looking pretty fat last time. I don't know how much weight he's gonna put on after weighing in at 175."
"You're here for a paycheck, which is crazy to me, I can't even think like that … I’m going to beat the (expletive) out of you so bad, man."
Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez (1-0)
"I always thought the (King of Violence) title belonged to me, and I don't need a belt to prove it. I've had it, I'm defending it against Mike Perry, and it's going to be a successful title defense. I love this fight, man."
"I was a 155er, but these days I walk around at 200. I can't make 155 anymore. I wanted to make it 175 to suck some water out of Mike's head, so when I hit it, it just falls over."
Christine “Misfit” Ferea (7-1), who defends her BKFC World Women’s Flyweight Championship for the third time in a rematch with Bec Rawlings (3-2, No. 3 contender)
"She's tough, she's coming to fight. I've seen holes in her game. I've seen the fatigue in her; she does gas. I've seen a lot of things that we'll capitalize on. I'm coming forward from Round 1 to Round 5, and I'm going to burn her out."
"No matter who's in front of me, I'm motivated. I'm a very motivated person; I want to be the best in the world at everything I do, especially this. I'm the best in the world, and I'm going to prove that again on Saturday night."
"I came from the bottom with no UFC behind me, no management. I've learned this business from the ground up, and that's why you're getting beat."
Bec “Rowdy” Rawlings
"Christine is good when it's going her way, like a typical bully. I intend on bullying the bully back again."
"She never beat me for the belt, unless you count the last fight, where I think the doctor beat both of us. If I was the champion, I wouldn't want to win by doctor's stoppage over a little cut on the eyebrow. It doesn't eat me up. I'm going out there on Saturday night to take back that crown and bring the belt back to Australia."
"When I hit you, you were in (expletive) la la land. You should be thanking the doctor for stopping the fight, because I was about to put you on your (expletive)."
Kai “Hefty Bag” Stewart (4-0), who defends his BKFC World Featherweight Championship for the first time against Howard Davis (5-1-1, No. 2 contender)
"It don't matter where I fight. It's going to be a one-sided pounding and I'm swinging the hammer. I can't freakin' wait. I bet this elevation has him going insane in that little head of his. I'm going to take it to him, I'm going to win this fight. And still."
“There’s absolutely no pressure for me. Nobody believes that I should be the BKFC Champion. I came over here from MMA as an amateur. My first pro fight was with BKFC, I'm absolutely crushing it. When I put him down, nobody will be able to doubt me anymore."
Howard “HD” Davis
"I feel amazing. I'm going to crush Kai. His head is bouncing off the mat all night. It'll be a one-sided pounding, but in reverse, believe it."
"I'm confident because God has put me in this position to fight for the title. I'm a firm believer in having faith, and my team is behind me. I'm prepared on every level. There's nothing that I'm doing that Kai can stop, and I can stop anything he plans on doing. Counting me out is just funny, man. Man can't put down a poodle, and he thinks he can put down me? I've fought way harder opposition."
Arnold “Bomaye” Adams (7-2, No. 1 contender), who challenges Mick Terrill (5-1-1, No. 3 contender) for the vacant BKFC World Heavyweight Championship
"I know he's coming with a chip on his shoulder for how the fight ended the last time we fought. But, at the same time, I'm the big dog in this division, I've proven it time and time again. I step over people, and it isn't going to be any different on Saturday."
Mick Terrill
"Arnold stopped us last time, but we've added a lot of strength and stamina since then. I feel Arnold gets tired from Round 3 on, and we've added a lot of stamina."
Jimmie “El Terror” Rivera (1-0-1), who welcomes fellow former UFC star Jeremy “Lil’ Heathen” Stephens to the BKFC Squared Circle
"I'm looking forward to Saturday night and putting on a show."
Jeremy “Lil’ Heathen” Stephens
"This is everything. The past is the past. One day I'll look back and reflect on the past, but this is the opponent in front of me, this is the task at hand, and I plan on taking care of this task."
“(If Conor McGregor wants to fight me with BKFC) he’s gotta get off the blow first. He's gotta get off the steroids. He's got a long, long track ahead of him. He's fought some fights, but now he's gotta fight some real deals, the guy's he's been avoiding. That's a longshot. It's not something I really think about. He can get it on the street, for sure. His mom knows."
"I'm born and bred for this. I'm going to do big, big business here in bare knuckle."
David Feldman, Founder/President of BKFC
"We've got six fights on this card that could be a Main Event on any other card we've ever done. The biggest event in BKFC history is happening right here in Salt Lake City. I'd love to thank our great partners, because without them, this stuff doesn't happen. And thank you to the fans. You guys made us the fastest growing sport on planet Earth. Thank you very much. I'm super excited about this event.”
"We figured, let's have some fun with this thing and create the King of Violence Championship, because we've got two very violent people right here; Mike Perry and Eddie Alvarez. They've got amazing accolades, they've never turned down a fight, and they've beat almost everyone they've fought, so we made it the King of Violence Championship. Who's the most violent, is it Mike Perry or Eddie Alvarez? We're going to find out on Saturday night."
"We have some really, really exciting announcements that we're going to make next week. We have some new marquee states that are going to be opened up. We're working on this network deal, and hoping to be able to announce that by Dec. 15. We have some really, really exciting news for BKFC in 2024."
"We've got some great partnerships. I say partnerships because they help us make these fights happen, and we help give them notoriety and help their brand grow. It always has to be win-win or it doesn't work at all, and it's always win-win."
"Ben Rothwell came down really, really sick this morning, so he's not going to be able to compete. We tried to get a last-minute replacement for Todd Duffee, but we just couldn't do it, so we're going to push that fight to February. I'm sorry to the fans for that, but we still have a stacked card, an unbelievable Main Event, and a whole lot to be excited about here in Salt Lake City."
Todd Duffee
"I think it sucks that Ben is stuck in 2020 and thought this was a stay-at-home job. Terrible."
"I think Ben's real fight is happening with the scale. I think Thanksgiving was his biggest opponent, and I don't have anything else to add to that. I fought with Covid, I know what it's like, but you get out there and try to make it happen. I don't think Ben is by any means a weak man. Maybe he's going through something I don't understand. But I think his biggest fight was against Thanksgiving, and that's where he lost."
