Jamel Herring and Nate Maness are scheduled to compete for the vacant BKFC bantamweight championship at BKFC 89 on May 22nd. Ryan Reber, a former two-time challenger for the BKFC 135-pound crown, has shared his insights on this upcoming title fight.
Reber, who is set to face Joshua Oxendine (a former BKB Bare Knuckle title challenger) at BKFC Clearwater tonight, sees his own fight as a potential title eliminator. He believes a victory against Oxendine could propel him towards a shot at the winner of the Herring vs. Maness bout.
Speaking to Bare Knuckle Bowker, Reber expressed his desire to face the victor: “When I get Joshua Oxendine out of the way, yeah, I would hope that they would put me up against the winner of Jamel Herring versus Nate Maness. Either one of those fights really intrigue me because those are really decorated guys. It’s not like fighting a Justin Ibarrola or another guy that came up through the rankings. It’s actually fighting a guy that’s got a real complete resume. So you take a guy like that out, that to me is better than the world title. But then it’s winning the world title on top of it.”
Reber further elaborated on the appeal of fighting such opponents: “So it’s like a double whammy and they got everything to lose in the fight. Like you’re losing to a guy like me that may have more bare knuckle experience than you but doesn’t have more experience in what he’s done in the combat world. Like Nate was a highly decorated UFC guy. Then you got Herring who was a highly decorated boxer and you know that’s what I want right there.”
Regarding the upcoming BKFC 89 main event, Reber continued to offer his perspective on how a win against Oxendine could present him with a “third time’s the charm” opportunity. He noted, “So that would definitely be something I’d be gunning for next. I’m gonna pay and it’s kind of the same boat. I mean, you look at Herring, 1 and 0. Then you look at Nate, he hasn’t even had a fight at 135 yet. He fought Tyler Randall who was a 125er. I give him that fight, of course, because a fight’s a fight, but it’s not too impressive of a win. I mean, those guys literally got that chance because of who they are outside of the bare knuckle sport.”
