Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Let's talk about the fight you had in your first one for the BKFC a couple months ago, Rico.
00:03Tell me about, you know, the fight that you had against Foy.
00:06What was it like for you making that transition?
00:08You talk about the different mental aspects that people don't realize with this sport.
00:11What were the things that you changed and got ready to do for that fight?
00:16And what were some of the things that maybe caught you off guard
00:18and you decided you had to change afterwards?
00:20You know, things that were different, whether it be training or the way you were striking,
00:24all that kind of stuff that you, you know, learned coming into that for the first time.
00:27Yeah, so before I even was prepped to, like, do BKFC,
00:34I was already doing a lot of work with my boxing coach, which worked out great,
00:38which Eddie Alvarez over in Salem, Alvarez Family Boxing.
00:41So I was already doing a ton of just straight boxing work with him.
00:44And then once we got into, you know, really figuring out that,
00:47all right, we're going to do, you know, BKFC, instantly we started, you know,
00:51tweaking a lot of different things because now you're bare knuckles.
00:54So now you don't have things that you can use in boxing, like, you know,
00:57you can use your glove defensively, you know, but bare knuckle,
01:00there's going to be holes and stuff in your defense.
01:02There's things you've got to look out for, like punching, you know,
01:05elbows or even the top of the head that can do damage.
01:08So I think we were very smart about how we approached it.
01:12And we worked a lot on, like, clinch stuff because, you know, with boxing,
01:15obviously, once you can't really clinch the way you can in BKFC,
01:19the rules are different.
01:20So, you know, you can grab the back of the head as long as you're active
01:22and you're moving and you're constantly punching.
01:24You can keep going and keep working from there.
01:26So we were really smart about how we approach it.
01:29And I think, you know, we already had a lot of that knowledge
01:34and background into it.
01:35So it worked out, you know, obviously, your first fight for any new sport
01:39or anything you're doing new, you know, there's some, there's a learning curve,
01:43but I feel like we were really, really prepared.
01:45And I think the performance showed that.
01:48Absolutely.
01:49It was a great performance by you.
01:50Is there anything that, you know, obviously helps to have a guy like that
01:52in your corner who knows the difference?
01:53You know, there's plenty of people who make that crossover that, you know,
01:56don't know that the subtle differences that are going to be there.
01:58And you see them kind of having to adjust on the fly like that as they learn that.
02:01But now you're prepared for that.
02:03Is there anything else you had to tweak?
02:04Something that maybe caught you off a little bit after that first fight
02:06that, you know, you need to adjust coming in here for your future in the BKFC?
02:10Yeah, I mean, a couple of things, but nothing really, nothing really major.
02:14I feel like we really, you know, I think we had a good game plan going in
02:17and understanding on how to make those adjustments for, you know,
02:20and it worked out in the first fight.
02:21Now we kind of just carrying that on and just adjust and keep on building off of that.
02:26Yeah, I feel like this is made for me.
02:28Honestly, I feel like this format and this style, I'm super unconventional.
02:32Like I know how to pull punches out of people.
02:34I know how to set things up.
02:35I know how to, I can, I can, I can, I can fight a lot of different ways.
02:39I can, you know, I can get in there and just, and just let it fly
02:42and just bang if I have to, you know, if I need to get a knockout,
02:45I know how to try to force that.
02:46If I can set things up, you know, I can hit from different angles,
02:50fight from different stances.
02:51You know, there's a lot of different things that I can do.
02:53So without giving too much away, but I mean,
02:55I feel like I could be a problem for anybody.
02:57You know what I'm saying?
02:58Well, the one who's going to be the, you know,
03:00that you're going to be a problem for next is Zach Benal, of course,
03:02fighting on this card against the Mohegan Sun.
03:04I mean, obviously you're going to have a lot of fans there in your corner,
03:07being from that area, being up a New England guy.
03:09What do you see from Zach?
03:11You know, he's coming off a couple of losses.
03:12Obviously he's going to be hungry.
03:13Is there anything that you see that you, you know,
03:15you think you have to worry about from him,
03:17or you just think you got to come in there and do your thing
03:19and it's going to end up with your hand raised?
03:21Yeah.
03:21Usually those are the type of people that can be actually really dangerous,
03:24especially early on in the fight, like the first 30 seconds of fight,
03:28especially with BKFC, where you start nose to nose, you know what I mean?
03:31You're right there on the, on the line.
03:33You guys are right face to face.
03:34You can get punched right off the rip.
03:36You can get knocked out within seconds.
03:37So you got to be really careful, smart about how you approach it.
03:41I feel like he's going to be a much different fight from my last,
03:44which is more of an out, who was more of an outside type of boxing striker.
03:48I think that he's going to try to get inside.
03:51He's going to try to make it dirty.
03:52And anything could happen is if you lose focus and you don't pay attention,
03:56you know, if you're not, you know, totally zoned in.
03:58So I just got to be locked in and, you know,
04:03use my ability with my footwork and my fakes and movement and just setups to,
04:07you know, open things up myself.
04:09I don't want to force things too much.
04:10I want to make things happen organically.
04:11And once I find my opening, you know, completely commit and get the finish,
04:15you know, and put on a show for everybody, which, you know,
04:18I feel like I did last time and I'm going to do it every single time I'm out there.