Representing the American Top Team Team Lima gym and Last Laugh Fight Team, Nathan Rivera walked right through James Hyder at BKFC 53 when he burst onto the BK scene. With a heavy-pressure approach to fighting, Rivera avoids moving backward and tries to utilize lateral movement when throwing punches with what seems like pinpoint accuracy. Being a pressure fighter, in his case, does not mean that Rivera is a brawler. His counter punching is just as lethal as his offensive attacks and it’s early in his BKFC run, but he has title challenger and potential champion written all over him despite being in the stacked featherweight division.

There’s no doubt that fighting out of the same gym as Bellator’s three-time welterweight champion, Douglas Lima has to be an asset. American Top Team as a whole is known for producing incredible talent across various high level promotions and Nathan Rivera seems to be the next guy to fill those shoes.

Rivera is a blue collar family man in his civilian life. He graduated Welding School at Georgia Trade School in 2022 and provides a good living for himself outside of combat. Despite having real world skills, he longs for the day that he can “punch a clock for the last time,” as he said on November 9, 2023 via Instagram. Rivera also enjoys the outdoors and goes on annual hunting trips.