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Sydney Smith is set to face Taylor Starling at BKFC Blood 4 Blood on May 6th. This fight came together on short notice after Marisol Ruelas, initially scheduled to fight Starling, was unable to get cleared to compete.
Smith revealed that she officially accepted the fight on Monday, but the offer came about a week prior. She explained, “Marisol [Ruelas] had been KO’ed in California. They were hoping that she was going to get cleared, but California is very, very strict. So, she didn’t end up getting cleared. So they needed a last minute dance partner. Everybody knows you call Sydney, call ‘Sundance’, she’ll step in and fight. This is not the first time.”
This isn’t the first time Smith has answered a late call to step into the BKFC ring. She recounted previous instances where fights fell through or opponents withdrew, including a situation before her bout with Crystal Pittman, a fight that was nixed at the last minute, and a call to fight on a day’s notice against Crystal Van Wyk and Jenny Savage when Savage missed weight significantly. In that latter case, Smith was unable to take the fight due to not having her real ID.
Smith is no stranger to prominent BKFC events, having competed at their major show, KnuckleMania. Regarding the unique format of BKFC Blood 4 Blood, which combines live metal music with bare-knuckle fights, Smith commented, “I think it’s cool… I just want to fight. I don’t care if it’s on KnuckleMania. I don’t care if it’s on a random card. I don’t care if it’s with concerts. I don’t care. I just want to fight.” She added that she hasn’t had the opportunity to fight in over a year and a half, excluding the last-minute fight with Crystal Van Wyk.
Facing Taylor Starling, a prominent figure and former title contender in BKFC, Smith expressed her respect for Starling’s approach. “Taylor’s a class act in that she really respects her opponents. She has shown me a lot of respect for stepping up and I respect that, right? But at the end of the day, like we’re both gonna go in there and try to like kill each other and then we’ll hug afterwards, right? That’s the kind of opponent I want, you know? I just want it to be a good fight regardless of what happens.”
Smith believes the fight with Starling doesn’t need manufactured hype. “For me, I think it kind of diminishes things if it’s just like very gimmicky or whatever. You can tell when things are organic. If I’m pissed, you’re going to know I’m pissed. There’s no playing about it.” She emphasized that while she respects her opponents before and after the fight, the ring is a different world. “I think it’s just going to be an awesome experience for both of us all around and we’re both gonna get what we’re looking for. We’re gonna get a good fight.”
Although this fight is contracted at flyweight, Starling is a top-ranked strawweight contender. Smith acknowledged the potential implications of this bout for her future in BKFC, but stated, “For me, I’m not fighting to not lose. I’m not fighting to be any number on whatever. Like, I’m fighting. I’m coming out here and I’m fighting to win.” She feels this fight has brought back the mentality she had when she first started fighting, and the limited preparation time has prevented overthinking, allowing her to focus on simply going out and giving her all.
Smith anticipates a high-action bout, stating, “It’s definitely going to be a banger. I can guarantee you that one. I do know that we’re both going to come for it, and she likes to brawl… I’m looking to do sort of the same. Yeah, I mean we’re just going to go at it and it’s going to be a really good fight. I think the fans are going to be very, very happy with [it].”
English Translation:
BKFC Blood 4 Blood’s Sydney Smith on “Nothing to Lose” Short-Notice BKFC “Banger” Bout vs. Taylor Starling
Sydney Smith will throw down with Taylor Starling at BKFC Blood 4 Blood on May 6th. This was not always the case though, as Marisol Ruelas was initially supposed to be fighting Taylor Starling at this BKFC event. In terms of the timeline element for being made privy to this vacancy from Ruelas that is leading to her return to the BKFC ring after over eighteen months on the sidelines, Smith said,
“So we officially accepted it on Monday. But it was presented to me like late in the week. Probably about a week ago. She had reached out to me. I guess Marisol [Ruelas] had been KO’ed in California. They were hoping that she was going to get cleared, but California is very, very strict. So, she didn’t end up getting cleared. So they needed a last minute dance partner. Everybody knows you call Sydney, call ‘Sundance’, she’ll step in and fight. This is not the first time.”
“Before Crystal Pittman, there was a fight that they asked me to step in on short notice. I said yes, signed the contract. They nixed that fight from the card kind of at the last minute. Then they canceled the whole Virginia card and then they had Crystal Pittman’s opponent fall out. So I was like geared up for a fight anyway and even though it was at 135 and I’ll probably never never do that again. But I took the fight. I was like yeah, I’ll fight her.”
“Then it was last year, they had that fight in New Mexico with Crystal Van Wyk and Jenny Savage. Jenny missed weight by an exorbitant amount. So they called me and they’re like, “Hey, Sydney, will you fight on a day’s notice?” I was like, “Hell yeah, I will.””
“But then I forgot that I didn’t have my real ID because that’s so stupid. But, so that’s why I couldn’t fly down and take that fight on a day’s notice because I would have. Then this fight came up on, like a little bit over a week’s notice and I was like, “Yeah, I’ll fight you.” Like, I don’t care. So that’s how we get here [laughs]. Sydney will always say yes [laughs].”
Smith has fought on big BKFC events before, including their tentpole event KnuckleMania at BKFC’s fourth installment on the annual card. When offering her thoughts on this BKFC Blood 4 Blood event, with it being a hybrid of a live metal show and bare knuckle fights interspersed in there, Smith stated,
“I think it’s cool. I don’t really know like the logistics of it. You know what I mean? Like where are the bands? I’m not privy to any of that information. I think I did just get the itinerary earlier, but like I haven’t had a chance to look at it because I was in the gym. But yeah, I mean it’s cool, right? But like I don’t really listen to a lot of metal [laughs]. I mean I listen to like Christian rock and stuff. They do have some like screaming Christian music. Which I listen to a little bit of that.”
“But, everybody’s just messaging me like, “This so cool. You’re on with Alex the Terrible and Slaughter to Prevail.” I’m like, “I mean, I don’t want to just [get] ripped to shreds.” Like, I don’t know who any of these people are. Like, I really don’t. So I think it’s awesome that they’re coming up with different ideas. But I just want to fight [laughs]. I don’t care if it’s on KnuckleMania. I don’t care if it’s on a random card. I don’t care if it’s with concerts. I don’t care. I just want to fight.”
“I haven’t had the opportunity. I haven’t been presented the opportunity to fight in over a year and a half. Other than that last minute fight with Crystal Van Wyk. So, yeah. Gimme [laughs].”
Fighting someone like Taylor Starling, who has so much cache in BKFC, having been one of their bigger grassroots stars. Describing how she feels clashing with someone who has fought for titles in multiple weight divisions in BKFC, Smith quipped,
“Yeah, Taylor’s a class act in that she really respects her opponents. She has shown me a lot of respect for stepping up and I respect that, right? But at the end of the day, like we’re both gonna go in there and try to like kill each other and then we’ll hug afterwards, right? That’s the kind of opponent I want, you know? I just want it to be a good fight regardless of what happens.”
“I just want us to go out there and leave everything that we both have in that ring. I know that she’s going to do that and I know that I’m going to do that. So that’s the thing with it. Like I don’t care what your name is. I don’t care what your record is, who you’re affiliated with or whatever. Like, let’s throw down and let’s have a good fight. Let’s be chill afterwards. You know what I’m saying? That’s all I’m looking for. For me, I mean, it’s a good opportunity, right?”
“I’ve got nothing to lose [laughs]. That’s a dangerous person right there. So, I’m really excited to go out here and just let loose. You know what I’m saying? Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
BKFC Blood 4 Blood banger guaranteed by Smith for Starling contest
Touching on how this fight does not need a contrived trash-talking piece because both have high-octane fight styles that speak volumes inside the BKFC ring, Smith said,
“Oh yeah. For me, I think it kind of diminishes things if it’s just like very gimmicky or whatever. You can tell when things are organic. If I’m pissed, you’re going to know I’m pissed. There’s no playing about it. Like, there is no nothing, right? If I have animosity towards you, but like I don’t; I mean like I don’t think that like I’ll ever be able to do like the gimmicky thing. That’s just not me.”
“I’ll show you respect inside and afterwards, before and afterwards, but inside of that ring, like it’s a different world and we both understand that. You know what I’m saying? So I think it’s just going to be an awesome experience for both of us all around and we’re both gonna get what we’re looking for. We’re gonna get a good fight.”
While this is contracted as a flyweight fight, Starling is still the number two-ranked strawweight contender. With Britain Hart and Sarah Shell theorized as the next BKFC strawweight title fight within a category that is limited by fresh title challenges, Smith could possibly emerge in that division’s hierarchy despite this being a 125-pound bout. Touching upon some of those potential residual dynamics post-Wednesday, Smith stated,
“Yeah, absolutely. I feel like I’m not really; I don’t even want to think about anything like that. You know what I’m saying? Like, for me, I’m not fighting to not lose. I’m not fighting to be any number on whatever. Like, I’m fighting. I’m coming out here and I’m fighting to win. That’s the piece on this one is like it’s a mentality which like [is] a change for me. I think for years I was fighting to not lose. Fighting for this and that and the third.”
“Right now the way I feel, I feel like I did when I first started fighting.” That’s a good thing for me. I think one of the really good pieces on this one is that we really haven’t had a lot of time to think about it. To overthink it or think too much. We have a little bit of a game plan, but for the most part, our game plan is just go out there and do your thing.You know what I mean? Like let it all out. I’m very, very excited for that.”
The empirical evidence with both Starling and Smith in their fights is that they’re high-volume strikers who can put up sustained, high-pace efforts in BKFC fights. When expounding upon how that can inform the story that will unfurl in this contest, Smith quipped,
“Yeah, it’s definitely going to be a banger. I can guarantee you that one. I do know that we’re both going to come for it, and she likes to brawl… I’m looking to do sort of the same. Yeah, I mean we’re just going to go at it and it’s going to be a really good fight. I think the fans are going to be very, very happy with [it]. Who cares about the outcome? Like they’re going to be happy with the fight. You know what I’m saying? Like they’re going to be ‘that was freaking awesome.’ So that’s the goal.”
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