Kelvin Rayford is an American mixed martial artist and now a bare-knuckle fighter in the light heavyweight division fighting out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He had a solid MMA career leading up to his BKFC debut where he skipped amateurs and went straight to the pros in 2016 after a 5-4 run which led him to the PFL and Bellator. Rayford is also 3-0 in professional boxing.

Before his professional career, Rayford grew up in what he called a broken home which led to his grandparents raising him and his siblings. He craved attention and went about finding it by fighting at house parties and getting into all sorts of trouble as a kid. He did some time in his early 20’s and decided to take his fighting skills to a formal setting and started Muay Thai where he found a lot of success at the amateur level including multiple titles.

Going from a kid whose coach laughed at him the first time that he told him to throw a cross to a former Bellator and now BKFC fighter, Rayford has come a long way in his fighting and in life. He’s married with six daughters and joined the Army National Guard at age 39. While he has acknowledged that he isn’t a young buck anymore, he comes into the sport extremely humble and hungry. He was discovered by the BKFC through the Denver tryouts where lead matchmaker, Nate Shook recognized his aggressive yet technical style.

With a Muay Thai and boxing heavy style, Rayford also holds a black belt in BJJ.