15-03-2025
Former local UFC fighter stepping back into the ring, this time with no gloves
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Former local UFC and MMA fighter Bubba McDaniel is jumping back in the ring after announcing his retirement two years ago.
After debuting in a backyard-style boxing match, McDaniel said he was given the opportunity to hop back into the professional ring—but without any gloves—as he signed his first contract with Bare Knuckle Boxing.
'Bare Knuckle Boxing is exactly what that is. It's not in MMA. You don't get to kick; you don't get the elbow or anything like that. The only thing that's similar is you get the dirty box. So you can still hold heads,' McDaniel said.
You have to be a certain breed of human to get in the ring with someone whose ultimate goal is to beat you to a pulp. McDaniel said he was made for that, but now the gloves are coming off.
'You can still grab somebody around the waist, kind of spin them a little bit, things like that. But as soon as hands clasp into a, a grip position, anything like that around there, around the waist while you're clenched up, anything like that, and they break you apart, you start again,' McDaniel said.
With a history in mixed martial arts and Jiu Jitsu, McDaniel said he's joining Bare Knuckle Boxing to push his body to its limits.
'I kind of stink at boxing when you think about how good I am Jiu Jitsu and Kickboxing and in MMA as a sport. So, you know, to go down in my lower sport and go in there and try to get in there with high-level competition, I mean, it's just the fun of it, the thrill at that point,' McDaniel said.
It's a thrill McDaniel has been chasing for decades now, and for anyone else wanting to chase that same thrill but don't know where to start…
'You need to know what it's like to actually be in a struggle and to have to do it for 15 minutes at a time, 20 minutes at a time, you know, last an hour and a half training sessions, things like that. You need to know what that's like and to feel the struggle of that, to even understand what competing is going to feel like,' McDaniel said.
A feeling that McDaniel is soon going to experience again once he steps back into the ring representing Wichita Falls, Texas.
McDaniel said he's still working out the logistics for his first Bare Knuckle Boxing match. But he's hopeful his first fight will be near the beginning of summer.
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