Mike Jones is excited to drop his gloves.
The hard-hitting MMA fighter makes his highly anticipated bare knuckle fighting debut at BKFC 56 on Dec. 2 in Salt Lake City, UT.
“It looks fun – it looks really exciting,” Jones says in advance of his first trip to the Squared Circle. “The sport is still very new, so I think this is the right time to come in if I can go in there and get some wins. We’ll see what happens, but I’m ready to make a run at it. They’re paying their fighters well, so I can make some good money.
“I’m going for it.”
Jones has been training as an MMA fighter for nearly 15 years. He’s 10-7 as a professional, with all of his victories coming by KO. But bare knuckle fighting is a very different sport than MMA, and Jones has a healthy respect for that fact.
“It’s definitely a bit nerve wracking,” the 33-year-old Riverton, UT product says with a laugh. “But it’s also been very exciting. I’ve always been primarily a boxer in MMA, so this is very exciting.”
Standing in Jones’ way at BKFC 56 is Erick “El Travieso” Lozano, a battle-tested bare knuckle fighting vet who once knocked out BKFC World Champion Francesco Ricchi in just 54 seconds. None of Jones’ MMA fights since 2017 have gone to a third round, and he wants to keep that trend alive in Salt Lake City, LIVE on The BKFC App.
“I always try to get a fast finish. The faster you can get in, get out and get paid, the better. It’s less damage and you can fight again sooner,” he says. “I prefer faster, but I’m also ready to go five hard rounds.”
