Rico Franco collides with Kaleb Harris in the main event of BKFC 46 on July 1st.
The fistic fireworks transpire at Walker Activity Dome in Newcastle, United Kingdom, and will be broadcast on FITE TV as well as the Bare Knuckle TV app.
Franco spoke to Dylan Bowker of Bare Knuckle News to touch on the machinations of this matchup, rebounding from his life-threatening illness, the former BKB champion’s desire for BKFC gold and big-name fights, plus so much more. Excerpts from the chat are below.
Rico Franco
What were your initial thoughts getting this bout offer from a former welterweight title challenger and ranked 165-pounder in Harris?
“Yeah, it was perfect. It was exactly what I wanted. Me and my manager, we wanted someone in the top five that was ranked in the world. We got Kaleb and it was a perfect matchup. On paper, he’s a perfect matchup. We’ve both had ten bare knuckle fights, both same age, MMA background.”
“So on paper, this is a really good matchup. So yeah, I’m really, really happy I get to fight someone from America and I get to main event, headline Newcastle BKFC. Yeah I’m really excited. Really excited to just show up and perform as well.”
BKFC Newcastle
Seems like you want to stay quite active this year. Is there a scenario where you see yourself vying for a title by year’s end considering your current trajectory?
“I want to stay active. I want to get out to the States. Want to get over there and fight people. But I think after this fight, I’m definitely up there deserving a shot. Either someone who’s number one or I don’t know how the ranking works. But you know I think there was talk about getting a world title fight against the champion. Obviously (Luis) Palomino’s got the belt in my weight division. So yeah, I think I definitely deserve that shot after. If I make a statement and when I finish Kaleb Harris, it’ll be a big statement.”
“No one’s finished him. So I definitely believe I deserve that shot… I am going for the stoppage. Every fight I go for the stoppage. So to stop someone like Kaleb who is very tough like myself and I don’t think he’s been stopped yet. So to stop him, I believe I’ve got the skills to do that. It’ll definitely make a big statement and it’ll get all the Americans talking.”
BKFC 46
You were once suffering from a bowel disease that nearly ended your life. What was the entirety of that timeline like?
“That’s what I believe separates me from a lot of other minds. I feel like my mindset just feels indestructible. There’s just no fear whatsoever and my mind’s so focused on just every fight. Fight by fight, I’m not looking past any fight and I’m just visualizing every day. But I think going through that process of nearly dying and coming back, it’s just grown me in loads of different ways. Now that I’m not sore from the illness, I can train properly and I’m not struggling anymore.”
“I didn’t realize how unhealthy I was with my illness. Now I get to train and I get to train knowing now. I feel like I just keep improving every time now. It’s nice to be healthy and train and fight… It was crazy and it’s been a mad old journey. Obviously being from rock bottom to going to a big high again. I thought my career was over when the surgeon was saying you won’t be able to fight again. Having my stomach ripped out, you know, it was a really dark moment.”
Rico Franco continued, “But obviously, with the right people around me, I’ve just grew and I sucked it up. I think it’s a journey. I’ve enjoyed the journey of coming back and now I just want to keep excelling. I’m going all the way to the top.”
Rico Franco vs Kaleb Harris
You cemented yourself as a champion in BKB. How much would a BKFC belt really bolster your resume overall?
“Winning a world title in one promotion is massive. But winning it in another promotion just proves I am the best bare-knuckle boxer on the planet pound for pound. That’s my goal and I want to be going down as a legend in the future. I want people to be looking back at me and saying my name. Saying yeah, he’s the best bare-knuckle boxer and I will make it happen, a hundred percent.”
Dylan Bowker
I’ve previously contributed to other media outlets like My MMA News, Middle Easy, Sports Betting Dime, The AllStar, MMA Empire, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, MMA Torch, The Scrap, and Overtime Heroics MMA.
I was the ONE Championship content manager with Sportskeeda leading all of their content creation/ broader creative vision for ONE content on SK. Also, I have interviewed names like Fedor, Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, and Rampage Jackson to name a few.
I’ve covered press conferences/ media days for UFC, PFL, Bellator, ONE, BKFC, and more. My coverage of bare-knuckle began at BKFC 4 and I develop more of a fervent passion for this ever-growing sport with each event from BYB Extreme, BKB, and the aforementioned Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
