Dat Nguyen learned that his latest opponent was a guy he added on Facebook month before fight
Imagine you are a professional combat sports athlete and the promoter you are currently working for, calls you to notify you of your next opponent. He tells you the name, it sounds familiar, you pause for a moment, and then think to yourself.... "that's the guy who sent me a Facebook friend request a month ago."
Small world right?
Well, that is exactly what happened to professional boxer turned Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship superstar Dat Nguyen prior to his BKFC 8 bout against Travis Thompson.
Nguyen had signed his contract and was training to fight a southpaw in Matt Murphy in October 2019.
Days before the event unfolded, Nguyen said he started feeling ill.
"I got a runny nose and I was like 'ok, it's a runny nose, no big deal.' Then the next day I started feeling weak," Nguyen said. "I think I picked something up from the sauna. Five days before the event I caught a fever."
That's when Nguyen got the call that his opponent had pulled out of the fight due to an injury.
"I thought, 'maybe the fight is off and this is why I got sick. Maybe it was meant to be and this happened for a reason,'" Nguyen said.
That's when Bare Knuckle FC President David Feldman told Nguyen that he will find him a short notice opponent.
"They gave me a name.... Travis Thompson," Nguyen said. "Travis Thompson... that sounds familiar."
The two had just become friends on social media but that would not stop them from standing toe-to-toe inside the squared circle just hours later.
With just a few days notice, Thompson would deliver, taking Nguyen all five rounds.
The two men would earn 'Fight of the Night' honors and will now share the ring once again, this time with different opponents at BKFC 10 on February.
Thompson will fight Jos Boudreaux and Nguyen will meet BKFC fan-favorite Abdiel Velazquez.
"Abdiel, stylistically is a little different," Nguyen said of his upcoming opponent. "He likes to rush in, hit, hit again, and then run out."
Nguyen described Velazquez to Paulie Malignaggi who headlined BKFC 6 against Artem Lobov.
"He throws punches like Paulie, then he runs," Nguyen continued. "He's a lefty too. I'm going to force him to fight me like he fought Johnny Bedford. Stylistically he's not going to change overnight. The game plan is to break him down and force him to fight me."
The bout will take place on the pay-per-view portion of the BKFC 10 fight card.
About BKFC 10
A showdown between Cuban sensation Hector "Showeather" Lombard and hard-hitting David Mundell will headline BKFC 10 as Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) hits South Florida with an explosive cruiserweight main attraction taking place Saturday, February 15 live on pay-per-view from the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The co-main event will feature an all-action 155-pound contest between Jim Alers and Kaleb Harris. Also competing on February 15 will be Luis Palomino facing Elvin Britto in a 155-pound bout, as well as Dat Nguyen squaring off against Abdiel Velazquez in a 135-pound fight.
"BKFC 10" will be broadcast across the United States and Canada, exclusively on pay-per-view through MultiVision Media, Inc., on all major television distribution outlets for $29.99. It will also be available to BKFC's international broadcast partners worldwide and via stream to all in-home and out-of-home connected devices through FITE.
Tickets are on sale now at bareknuckle.tv.