BKFC Clearwater’s Ryan Reber Calls Co-Main Spot a “Slap in the Face”, Eyes Violent Victory

The BKFC Clearwater co-main event features Ryan Reber taking on Joshua Oxendine, but the former seems to feel a bit aggrieved about his placement on the card. With Reber coming off his second BKFC title bid in a loss to Justin Ibarrola he is now facing someone in Joshua Oxendine who previously contended for BKB Gold. When asked, with all factors considered, what’s the thought process heading into this consequential contest on April 24th at BKFC Clearwater, Reber said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],

“Seek and destroy, man. Seek and destroy like it always is. Nothing changes, man. I mean, we go back to the Justin [Ibarrola] fight. You know, arguably, I was up two rounds to none until he dropped me and I got hit with the shot of doom, man. I didn’t see that happening, but, you know, s**t happens when you play with bare knuckles, man. It is what it is. So nothing changes, man. I look to get right back on track, man, after a huge win in my home city.”

When asked how much beating someone like Oxendine could serve getting him back on the kind of trajectory that could potentially net him a possible ‘third time’s the charm’ BKFC title shot down the line, Reber stated [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],

“I mean, I guess that would kind of just depend on how the company looked at it, man. Because, as of right now, they’re kind of looking at it in a way that I’m not looking at it. I feel like by putting me as co-main event and putting the main event the way that they did. So, I was a little confused by that. So, I don’t know after a win over him where it places me. But, like I said, I don’t really care, man. I’m here to stay and I’m here to fight whom they put in front of me.”

“That’s it, man. So I never know with them on what they’re thinking. You know what I mean? I can never answer those questions to be exact, man. I just don’t know. I mean, in my eyes, Josh is 1 and 0 in our organization. But he is five and three and a former title contender as well in the other organization [BKB]. Now, I could see if it was MMA or boxing or anything like that, that’d be a little different, but it’s bare knuckle.”

“So, he has pretty much proved himself. He has fought some good guys. I think that it should land me another [title] shot. If it doesn’t, then who’s next? I don’t know. But like I said, I’m here to fight, man. So, do as I’m told and we’ll see what happens, man.”

BKFC Clearwater spot is a “f***ing slap in the face” for reber, but he still targets a war

When asked to expound upon his deeper sentiment behind being surprised that this was slated as a co-main event fight for BKFC Clearwater, Reber quipped [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],

“It did kind of take me [by] surprise. Now a guy like Quentin [Gaskins], we train together. Love Quentin. Did he deserve a main event? Possibly, but in my backyard in a city where I sold over $30,000 worth of tickets and steal the hometown crowd every single time that I would fight. Obviously only fought there once.”

“But I mean from the people who came around me, from the inside of the organization, to anybody else, like wow, man, you really stole that show. Like you really sold out, you really had the crowd. So I kind of felt like it was a f***ing slap in the face to be honest with you. But you know what, man, that only makes me more determined to go out there and really f***ing put the hands to this guy. I only see this fight going one or two ways. Either it’s going to be; if he’s ready-ready, it’s going to be a war.”

“If he’s not, it’s going to be an early night for him. Either way, I see myself getting my hand raised at the end because I look back at Josh’s [resume], who he’s fought, and he fought Travis [Thompson] at the end of Travis’ career. You know what I mean? He didn’t fight a hungry Travis. I fought Travis when he was ranked number two. What people don’t understand was when me and Travis fought, he actually stayed with me for like a week and a half.”

“So he sparred me. He knew my tendencies. I really think that Travis in his mind just knew he could beat me. So he wanted to win over me. I wanted to take his spot. The rest was history, man. You guys seen what happened. It was a six round war. I fought the very best Travis. I fought a very determined Travis. I didn’t see that in the Josh Oxendine fight.”

“I kind of [had] seen somebody who was kind of maybe falling out of the sport, maybe was there for a paycheque. Maybe it could have been differently if he would have had an extra two rounds. I don’t know. So there’s a lot of determining factors, man. We didn’t really get to see out of Josh. Now, I think Josh is, he’s a good fighter. I think he’s a very game opponent.”

“I think his s**t talk is a little out there. I don’t really like how he carries himself as a fighter, but as a person, as a human being, he’s a good dude. We talked and like I say, it’s all business, man. When I step into that ring with you, I’m looking to take your f***ing face off and nothing’s changed. So I put in all the work. All the hard work is about to be done… Man, it’s going to be exciting.”