BKFC has four hungry fighters ready to vie for the vacant lightweight title in a looming tournament and a fighter outside of that immediate field has some thoughts on matters. Hasan Al-Ghanim is now 4-0 inside of the BKFC ring after his victory over the weekend at BKFC Edmonton and he aims to go 5-0 before 2025 closes out. A lightweight title shot is an express goal for the surging Wolfhouse product someday and Al-Ghanim appeared on Bare Knuckle Bowker ahead of his Zach Pannell fight recently in Enoch at the River Cree.
Addressing the announcement of the four-man lightweight tournament for the vacated 155 pound championship after they had stripped Franco Tanaglia of the belt, Hasan Al-Ghanim said,
"Honestly, I thought it was a good idea. Obviously they stripped him [Franco Tenaglia]. Ben Bonner fought for the interim [title] with, who was it? Was it [Tony] Soto?... Yeah, they fought for the interim [title]. It's fine. The tournament is a good idea, but I think they should have opened it up from four-man to maybe an eight-man tournament."
"You know, there's a lot of people who deserve their respect within the division. One of them being like HD [Howard Davis]. You know, he went five rounds with what's his name? I forgot his name, f**k... He went five rounds with [Luis] Palomino, right?... He [Howard Davis] lost that fight because of a decision. But I feel like a person like him should have been thrown in there, you know, thrown in that mix."
"Then make it a six-man tournament, make it an eight-man tournament, and have potential up and comers like myself join in as well. Just to see if we can keep up, if we are part of the part of the top, you know what I mean? But to me, having the same four guys, one guy coming from '65, one guy coming from '45, and both champions coming in, you know, it defeats the purpose."
"You know, we're putting the division on hold. We're putting two divisions on hold. Obviously Austin Trout vacated his, but we have Kai [Stewart] still the champion of 145. He's just holding up the division there. You know what I mean? I think they should have made it an eight-man tournament, but hey, I'm not in the seats, you know?"
BKFC Lightweight Championship scene and where Al-Ghanim fits in
With big name former as well as current champions in BKFC like Franco Tenaglia, Austin Trout, Luis Palomino, and interim champ Ben Bonner vying to become undisputed champion, it's all about staying the course for 'Hungry'.
As the Iraqi-born combatant fighting out of Alberta was discussing his own route to his crack at the crown down the line while observing the tournament from the outside looking in following his dominant BKFC Edmonton win, Al-Ghanim stated,
"Yeah, it's a weird situation, but hey, you know, they decided a four man tournament. The rest of us just got to work our way up until we get a contender shot or a title shot or something like that."
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