Salt Lake City, UT is quickly becoming a hotbed for bare knuckle fighting in the United States.
BKFC made its action-packed Salt Lake City debut last September with BKFC 65 at the sold-out Maverik Center. The world’s fastest growing combat sports promotion returns to Utah’s capital city on Saturday with the must-see BKFC 74, LIVE worldwide on DAZN from the Maverik Center.
BKFC’s rapid rise in popularity in SLC isn’t surprising to one of the city’s most exciting fighters, Dominico Salas.
“There’s a big fight community here and we’ve really rallied behind BKFC,” Salas says. “There have always been a lot of MMA fans and boxing fans here, and they’ve all fallen in love with BKFC.
“There’s nothing that comes close to BKFC in terms of excitement.”
Salas made his Squared Circle debut at BKFC 65, defeating Kaine Tomlinson Jr., in the first round of their welterweight matchup. He returns to action on Saturday at BKFC 74 against Jeremiah Truhlar.
Salas has competed in all kinds of martial arts over the years, but he’s been told that bare knuckle fighting is his calling.
“The sport fits my style really well — I’ve been told that a lot,” he says. “I get in your face with non-stop pressure. I accept and embrace that I’m in a fight, and I’ll do anything to break my opponent.”
Salas’ motivation is to move up the rankings in BKFC’s stacked 165-pound weight class, of course, but he seems to be even more interested in giving his hometown fans — and those watching around the world on DAZN — something to talk about.
“Putting on a show for the fans is the most important thing,” he says.
“I’m a fighter, but I’m also an entertainer. Fans are paying their hard-earned money to watch these fights, so I’ll never be content with a boring fight that doesn’t bring the fans to their feet.”
Salas is proud to fight at home, but he’d also like to compete internationally with BKFC. He sees himself having a bright future with the organization, but he isn’t looking past Saturday.
“I’m really excited to see how far I can go with BKFC, but I’m only focused on one fight right now. I’m down for whatever the company has in mind for me in the future, but for right now I’m only focused on the task at hand.”
