David Mundell defends his middleweight title against Mike Richman in the main event of BKFC 47 on July 14th.
The fistic fireworks broadcast on the Bare Knuckle TV app and Fite TV with the pugilistic proceedings emanate from Jenkins Arena in Lakeland, Florida.
Mundell spoke to Dylan Bowker of Bare Knuckle News before this bout. Excerpts from the chat are below.
David Mundell
With a lot of fighters and followers of combat sports in general putting so much stock into the idea of securing that first title defense, does this fight feel particularly special or is it business as usual?
“It’s definitely important to me but it also is business as usual. This is what I train for, what I’ve been training for. I am super excited about this one because now I get to, you know; We’ll win this fight and then actually go out and celebrate and be cheerful for it. Last one was kind of bittersweet. So this is one I’ve definitely been looking forward to… My last fight was against (Francesco) Ricchi and he’s a friend of mine. We never got to train together or anything but if we were in town with each other we’d meet up.”
“You know, go share a drink, or eat some sushi. Some **** like that but it was business. We’re both trying to eat and it just happened. But with this fight coming up, facing (Mike) Richman is awesome because I have no ties with him. I didn’t know who he was up until BKFC and he’s got a lot of hype behind him. Everyone thinks he’s this great guy and I look forward to proving them all wrong.”
Photo credit to Phil Lambert/ BKFC
BKFC
Your next opponent Richman is a former interim light heavyweight champion in the organization and regarded by many as one of BKFC’s best pound-for-pound. X’s and O’s-wise, what are some of the better stylistic attributes that ‘The Marine’ has?
“I guess just his ability to dig deep and keep going but I mean, I really don’t know. I’m not impressed by much of what I see. We fight very similar styles. Maybe just the fact that he’ll push forward. That’s a tough one. Like I’m trying to dig to find something nice to say (laughs) but I just can’t. Like I’m just not impressed. Honestly, I’m just not worried about him… I’m sure as everyone knows we’re both southpaws, you know. So we all take the same angles against our other opponents who usually stand orthodox.”
“So now that we have two southpaws in there together, like those certain angles that we’re used to don’t work anymore. I train with southpaws every day. Jared Warren is (a) southpaw. I’ve got other teammates, Knox is a southpaw. So I’m constantly moving with these guys. So it’s not uncomfortable for me. It’s just another day in the office. On top of that, I just feel like I’m a bigger guy.”
“I feel like I have way better accuracy, way better eyes. Just movement, footwork, everything. So I just feel like I’m better than him everywhere. Again, I just can’t wait to show everybody.”
BKFC 47
You have a pair of MMA bouts with Mike Perry and seem keen on a bare-knuckle bout with him. Not overlooking Richman obviously but has there ever been any dialogue about a Perry fight in BKFC?
“So obviously yeah, we do have history in MMA. That dude is tough and I don’t mean that as a compliment. Because he just gets beaten and he takes it and that’s good for him. But back in the day, I literally took him a little light. I went in there and I exhausted myself whooping his ass until the end when I finally got caught. I know I’ve grown as a fighter since and I feel like he’s actually regressed a little bit.”
“Don’t see anything remotely decent that he does. It’s just very sloppy. He banks all off of; he thinks he’s powerful. So he banks off his power and being tough. In this world of BKFC, you can’t do that. Because I’ll slice him up. If he gets too overzealous and he jumps in too hard, I’ll put him smooth out too.”
Photo via @bareknucklefc on Twitter
David Mundell vs Mike Richman
Eyeing titles in multiple divisions, there must be some peripheral awareness of the interim light heavyweight title fight that is the co-main event of this card. What are your thoughts on that Warren vs Dyer rematch fight in the context of your own career?
“I’m just looking to dominate the ’75 pound division until there’s no one left in my way. Then I’ll move up and I’ll take out the next weight class. Then we can start talking about that pound-for-pound spot… I a hundred percent am interested in that fight, that’s my boy Jared (Warren). He’s my teammate, my main training partner. Which is the whole reason why I fight at ’75 (laughs) and I let him handle the ’85 pound class right now.”
David Mundell continued, “It’s kind of funny because we joke around saying like I’m going to hold the belt below and above his weight class. So I wouldn’t go to ’85 next unless he decided to stop fighting for whatever reason. I guess I would start looking at the 205 class.”
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