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Jesse Ronson "got more support for bare knuckle boxing than I ever did for all my UFC fights"


Jesse Ronson is one of the great fight north's most well travelled competitors and has a hunger for gold in bare knuckle now. The Canadian combatant takes on Ryan Jett at BKB 46: Empire State Brawl on September 27th in Jesse Ronson's promotional debut.

Clashing with a combatant in Jett who has fought some champion caliber fighters and champions outright like Sam Liera, Cub Hawkins, and Martin Reffell to name a few excites Jesse Ronson. When touching on if this kind of fight can serve those broader ambitions of getting to contend for a bare knuckle title sooner rather than later, Jesse Ronson said,

"Yes, 100%. So you look at Ryan Jett, he's four and seven or five and seven in MMA, right? Not a very good MMA record. He's four and five in bare knuckle boxing. Not a very good record, but he lost to [Sam] Liera twice, the [former] 165 lb champ twice. He lost to, I think you said [Cub] Hawkins or whatever, who is a champion in my weight class, they actually fought for the title and he lost to him. Like out of his five losses, I think three or four of them are to actual champions or former champions in BYB [now BKB]."

"So it's like I go out there on September 27th and I make a statement. I finish Ryan Jett in the first round making it eight wins in a row. Eight first round finishes across MMA, bare knuckle MMA, [bare knuckle] boxing, whatever. It would be hard pressed not to give me an immediate title shot in December. They need new guys. They need fresh blood. A Canadian that's never won a title before or even I think the only; I don't know if any Canadians have ever fought for a bare knuckle title other than Jade Masson-Wong."

"She fought for the BKFC title, but still to get out there and do that, like it's just huge. And Canada, like I got more support for bare knuckle boxing [laughs] than I ever did for all my UFC fights. Like people are like, "Holy s**t bare knuckle, that's gangster as hell, dude." Like people are; like random people are giving me like cash donations. Like, dude, that's just gangster. Like, take this. And I was like, "Do you want me to; you don't want a picture? You want a shout out?" They're like, "Nah, dude. Whatever can help." He's like, "I just want to watch that shit." That's never happened to me for MMA or UFC or anything like that."

"Even when I beat Nicolas Dalby, you know, people loved it. You know, I got like 500 likes, but it's still like I wasn't getting the support and messages and people coming together for me like they are now for bare knuckle boxing. It's ridiculous. So, yeah, put a smackdown on Ryan Jett, who is no joke. You know, he's a seasoned veteran. Even though he's only got nine fights, he's a veteran, but he fights dirty. I f***in love it. He's a dirty fighter. He's safe. He is tough."

"He's hard to finish. I think he's only been finished one time. So, they're not making it easy for me. And I just want to go out there and demolish this guy. So I can, you know, give me the f***in strap and add to my collection over here because I don't know if you've seen the BYB [BKB] belts. It's the original belt from like 1880. And it's like a sash. It's not; You can't even call it a belt. It's a sash and it's got like; Oh, it's very unique. I've never seen anything like it. And I want it hanging on my wall."

Jesse Ronson: Gamebred Bare Knuckle's uncertain future, BKB debut, Canadian MMA politics

Jesse Ronson has a "nice empty space" for future BKB Police Gazette diamond belt

When talking about the BKB Police Gazette diamond belt which has the deepest lineage of any combat sports title around and how incredible it would be for him to someday add that strap to his crowded mantle, Jesse Ronson stated,

"Yeah, there's no room over there and I'm not about to buy a new one. But it would be perfect to just hang right across the wall... I have my UFC jersey here, but there's this nice empty space that I can put it right there [laughs]. Anytime I sit at my desk, I just look up. You're a world f***in champion, man. Let's go."