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Scott McHugh looks to become a six-time BKB champion on Saturday against the first Filipino bare-knuckle champion ever. \u2018The Mute\u2019 will battle for the BKB super welterweight championship on October 10th, which Rolando Dy currently holds. McHugh looks to claim that throne in the main event of BKB 60 at the promotion\u2019s inaugural card in Newcastle.<\/p>\n
With McHugh\u2019s prior BKB titles being in the promotion\u2019s older square ring, when asked if getting to win his first BKB belt in the Trigon-specific environment bolstered his resume in any kind of unique way, McHugh said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s not really no different to me in there, it\u2019s all the same. Obviously clinch, I\u2019m good in the clinch. I\u2019ve got footwork. I\u2019ve got it all. I<\/span>t suits me that triangle. People forget what I\u2019ve got in a background. I\u2019ve got my [Muay] Thai boxing. I\u2019ve done MMA. I\u2019ve done it all, you know. So, this is no different to me and it suits me better. I\u2019m ready for anything. So, just another day in the office for me this fight. He\u2019s a tough kid, but we\u2019ll see. We\u2019ll see what he\u2019s [got when he\u2019s] in the trenches with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Referencing some of the similarities in the paths taken between himself and Dy through the latter fighting in the UFC and battles in Thailand, McHugh stated [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201cVery similar, especially with our backgrounds and that. Obviously, he\u2019s been in the UFC. I\u2019ve had quite a lot of fights as well, <\/span>do you know what I mean? So, I\u2019ve not just done bare knuckle, I\u2019ve done K1, [Muay] Thai boxing, I\u2019ve done MMA, I\u2019ve done hybrid, do you know what I mean? So, I\u2019ve done quite a lot of glove fights and I\u2019ve actually never been beaten in gloves, believe it or not. Think I\u2019m 19 wins, one draw in gloves like in the boxing gloves, hybrid boxing. I\u2019ve been about the block like [laughs].\u201d<\/p>\n When it was mentioned that perhaps some forget about his broader combat sports pedigree because he has one of the deeper resumes of the modern era of bare-knuckle boxing, McHugh quipped [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, Exactly. Like people think oh MMA background, brings this and that. <\/span>Listen it\u2019s bare knuckle boxing. If you know how to fight bare knuckle and you know how to clinch and you know all that stuff, you\u2019ve got no issues in this game. Do you know what I mean? But with me, I\u2019ve had a lot of bare knuckle fights and I know I\u2019m very wise. I\u2019m a very wise man. I can read shots coming. Well, you say that, don\u2019t you? But it\u2019s bare knuckle, man. I\u2019ve been in this a long time. Nearly 10 years, so this fight is nothing new to me. Do you know what I mean? I\u2019ve got no pressure on me. I\u2019ve been there, done that, but this time I\u2019m there. Do you know what I mean? I\u2019m coming. I\u2019m coming and I\u2019m confident and I\u2019m ready. Rolando [Dy], man, he\u2019s a good kid. I like Rolando and I know what he\u2019s about. Yeah, I\u2019ve got respect for him and he\u2019s got respect for me, man\u2026 I can\u2019t let it go to the judges, mate. I\u2019m not saying that but with him being a world champion, I\u2019ve got to take that from him. So I mean I\u2019m not saying what\u2019s going to happen and that. But I\u2019ve got a plan and that plan hopefully will go well.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to the mindset piece of how this fight is being approached, McHugh said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve both got the same mindset. He\u2019s there to finish me. I\u2019m there to finish him. He\u2019s thinking, \u201cOh, I\u2019m the homeboy or whatever.\u201d <\/span>England boy, they\u2019re going to give me if it goes to judges, mate. So, it can\u2019t go to the judges either way. From his point of view or my point of view. Do you know what I mean? That\u2019s just how I see it. I\u2019ve been here a long time, and I know the score. So, yeah, it\u2019s going to be; I\u2019m not going to say, but you\u2019ll see. It\u2019s going to be a good one. It\u2019s going to be a good one. I love Rolando. Do you know what I mean? We get along. After this fight, we\u2019ve even planned we\u2019re going to go fishing in; I won\u2019t mind going over to the Philippines as well\u2026 I\u2019ve been to Thailand. But I want to go to the Philippines. So if he\u2019s watching this, I hope you welcome me after this fight and we\u2019ll go fishing [laughs].\u201d<\/p>\n With Dy appearing on another BTB episode pre-Newcastle, responding to the seemingly evident mutual respect between the BKB 60 main event stars, McHugh stated [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201cListen, we\u2019re both in there to do a job. We\u2019re both in there, knock each other out, then we\u2019ll shake hands after. There\u2019ll always be respect there. But obviously when when we get in there, it all goes, you know what I mean? We\u2019re both there to fight. We\u2019re both there to win. So, we\u2019ll see. We\u2019ll see all the doggies on the night, you know? See who\u2019s got that dog in them and who\u2019s who.\u201d<\/p>\n Referencing his nickname \u2018The Mute\u2019 which references how he does all of his talking in the ring, McHugh quipped [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I don\u2019t; listen, like I said, I don\u2019t bad badmouth people, predictions. It\u2019s until you get smacked in face first and you don\u2019t have no predictions. <\/span>But I\u2019m confident, I\u2019m very confident in what my abilities are and what I\u2019ve trained for over the past years. I\u2019ve just got better and better. So yeah, I don\u2019t go talking s**t because I know this sport is a brutal game. You can\u2019t go talking s**t to people. Do you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n Touching on the parity in the weight division (whereby Liam Rees beat McHugh and Rees dropped gold to Dy, in a conext where McHugh has multiple wins over Martin Reffell who has a win over Dy) McHugh said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201cStyles make fights, you know what I mean?.. Liam Rees<\/span> but again, back then, I didn\u2019t know about how to do the water cut and stuff like that. I was 70 kilo on that day. 71 the max. He did a big cut and he were a bigger lad than me and he caught me. I got carried away. I was in my home crowd. I wanted to please the crowd and I got caught and I missed the count. It did knock me out. I missed the count, I\u2019d have got back up and carried on. So unless you clean me out in that ring, put me unconscious, I\u2019ll be there till the very last bell.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked if shifting from the old guard BKB\u2019s style of day-of weigh ins toward the current day before weigh ins was one of his bigger adjustment curves in recent years, McHugh stated [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. Well, again I didn\u2019t know. I used to have to back then because it was same day, you couldn\u2019t diet and that. But now I\u2019ve got like a professional <\/span>nutritionist now who does MMA fighters, UFC fighters, all that. I\u2019ve got it all to a tee on this one. So yeah, I can do. I\u2019m doing the; I\u2019m not going to give too much information, but yeah, there\u2019s different things now. I\u2019ve got a very, very good team around me. So yeah, man, I\u2019m all good to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing the multiple tendrils of fight IQ that come from his vast depth of experience withing the game of gloveless combat, McHugh quipped [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, definitely. Like obviously the buildup and that, you\u2019ve got to say stuff on camera, you\u2019re going to do this and that. It\u2019s part of selling the <\/span>fight, but, again, I\u2019ve been in this this sport a long time and I\u2019m a very wise man in it. Do you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n Within the trope of iron sharpens iron, when referencing some past work with names like Jimmy <\/span>Sweeney, Rico Franco, James Connelly (who are some real elite pedigreed guys in this modern era), McHugh said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, like we\u2019ve been about [James] Connelly, [Jimmy] Sweeney. Yeah, we\u2019re all still active. We <\/span>all started. Well, Jimmy started a long time before me, but I\u2019m one of; I wouldn\u2019t say the originals, but you know, I\u2019m up there. I\u2019m still here. I think it\u2019s only me and Connelly and Marko [Martinjak] are the only; and [Dan] Podmore probably the only ones left who are fighting in the Trigon. Do you know what I mean? But again, it\u2019s it\u2019s good that Trigon. I like it. You can have a fight and it brings a dog out in you.\u201d<\/p>\n Responding to the rhetoric from some outsider combat sports athletes who say there is no longevity in the game of bare knuckle, McHugh said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018A lot of s**thouses who are all scared of the sport. That\u2019s what it is or wouldn\u2019t dare to do it. Slagging it off. That\u2019s slagging it off. You know why? <\/span>Cuz they haven\u2019t done it this, so. Cuz you ain\u2019t got balls to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n After quipping about how the longevity element comes down to one\u2019s individual approach to this particular fighting modality, McHugh stated [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll get more scars. Like I\u2019ve got a lot of scars, you know what I mean? But like with gloves, it\u2019s more damage because you\u2019re taking a lot more shots. You\u2019ll get hit with a clean shot in bare knuckle, it\u2019s either lights out or you\u2019re cut.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked if he is seeing particular holes he can exploit within Dy\u2019s game this weekend\u2019s bout or if it\u2019s more about feeling supremely sharp within his own skillset, McHugh quipped [via Bare Knuckle Bowker<\/em>],<\/p>\n \u201cJust confidence, mate. Like listen, I\u2019m not saying too much, you know? I know my <\/span>capability and I know what round and do you know what I mean? I just; I\u2019m ready anyway. He\u2019s ready for me. He\u2019ll probably; he\u2019s probably thinking, \u201cOh, he\u2019s going to have to knock me out.\u201d But you\u2019re going to have to use a sledgehammer to knock me out. But time will tell, won\u2019t it? We see who\u2019s got the best chin in there and I\u2019ve got a good chin.\u201d<\/p>\nBKB 60<\/h2>\n
BKB Newcastle<\/h2>\n
Scott McHugh blasts \u201cs**thouses\u201d in combat sports who slag off bare-knuckle boxing<\/h2>\n