For Brandon Girtz, stepping into a bare-knuckle fight is nothing new. Stepping back into MMA, however, feels a little more like coming home.
The longtime MMA veteran has spent the last few years competing in bare-knuckle boxing, including a stint with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Now, Girtz has returned to the sport where he spent the bulk of his career, albeit with one significant difference: There are still no gloves.
On Friday, Oct. 2, Girtz faces fellow veteran Luis Palomino in the quarterfinals of the Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA lightweight tournament at Pabellón de Karate, Centro Olímpico, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
There is also plenty on the line. The tournament carries a $500,000 prize, which certainly helped get Girtz’s attention.
“The tournament style got brought to me,” Girtz told Combat Press. “I’m in the MMA bare-knuckle tournament, and obviously the tournament’s for half a mil. So, you know, that was enticing.”
Money was not the only attraction.
After spending more than a decade competing in traditional MMA, Girtz liked the idea of eventually closing out his fighting career in the sport that made him a household name among hardcore fight fans.
“To go back to my roots, to MMA, I kind of wanted to end my career, you know, in MMA,” Girtz said. “It was kind of more of my strong suit with my wrestling abilities and everything like that. So, when I got that chance, when I got that call, I really liked that idea. I liked the opportunity.”
The move also provided an opportunity for a fresh start after his run with BKFC.
“BKFC, they’re alright,” Girtz said. “You know, I did feel like I got screwed a couple times in there, and I always had a little bad taste in my mouth.”
Bare-Knuckle MMA Is Different
At first glance, bare-knuckle MMA might look like traditional MMA minus the gloves. For Girtz, the difference is far more significant.
The lack of hand protection changes everything from how fighters throw punches to how they defend them.
“The thing with the bare knuckles, it’s a little more precision, is what it ends up being,” Girtz said. “People think it’s just a brawl out there because it’s bare knuckles. It’s really not.
“Your hands aren’t protected the same. That’s what people don’t really realize. So, whipping overhands or whipping careless throws, there’s a lot of broken hands that happen in bare knuckle.”
Defense changes, too. Blocking a punch with a glove is one thing. Trying to absorb the impact of a bare fist on the arms and hands is another.
“You can’t block punches the same, so you have to be smarter on your blocks or get out of the way,” Girtz said. “There’s just a different dynamic to it, and it’s raw. With bare knuckle, the cuts are easier. You have to be more precise with it, and that’s what I kind of like about it. It’s raw out there.”
Despite the obvious potential for damage, Girtz emerged from his first Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA bout against John Teixeira last May feeling surprisingly good.
“I came out of that feeling the healthiest I’ve felt after a fight in a long time, which is quite wild being what the fight was like,” he said. “I give that credit to God, the Almighty, honestly. He’s the one right now that’s moving my path in this whole fighting thing and keeping me healthy.”
A Different Brandon Girtz
Girtz’s life outside the cage has changed considerably as well.
Rather than spending every day inside the same MMA gym with the same coaches and teammates, the Colorado-based fighter has taken a more unconventional approach to training.
Girtz owns 10 acres of land in the mountains of Colorado, just outside of Denver. He has spent the last five years developing what was originally raw land while creating his own training setup in the process.
“I got a property out in the mountains,” he said. “We do a lot of mountain training out here. I got a little workout facility out here. I bounce around in a couple gyms in town, you know, get different looks and things like that. But my training is sort of all over the place these days.”
Girtz now lives on the property full time and is in the process of building a house there for his family.
“I’ve been building it out as raw land,” he said. “It had a lot to clean up. Nothing was on it. I did a lot of cleanup, and I built a lot of things. It’s kind of been my learning center around how to build, how to do – I hate the word ‘homesteading.’ That just doesn’t seem cool to me. But doing that type of stuff.”
The property also sits at approximately 8,600 feet above sea level, giving Girtz a built-in advantage when it comes to conditioning.
“I’ve been here 14 years in Colorado, and that’s what I tell people all the time,” he said. “I get 10% free cardio just living here.”
Girtz does not currently have one traditional head coach or a permanent gym affiliation. Instead, he trains with a collection of longtime friends and training partners.
“My good friend Grant Neal will be coming out with me for this fight,” Girtz said. “And then, you know, I train with my guy Pat – Pat Barry – and Rose [Namajunas] quite a bit, and we kind of bounce around.
“Right now, I’m unaffiliated, and I like it. I’ve been in Colorado for a while. Pretty much most of my friends own gyms, so we bounce around a little bit.”
Luis Palomino Awaits
All of that training will be put to the test against an opponent who has accumulated plenty of mileage of his own.
Palomino has spent years competing in MMA and bare-knuckle boxing, including a pair of famously violent fights against Justin Gaethje. Girtz knows exactly the kind of opponent standing across from him on Oct. 2.
“He’s been in the game a long time,” Girtz said. “It’s crazy for me to say, I feel like that dude’s been in more wars than I’ve been in, and I’ve been in wars. That’s kind of my fighting style, but it’s also kind of his fighting style.”
Girtz believes his wrestling background could provide an important difference between the two veterans.
“He never really had the wrestling background, per se, that I’ve had,” Girtz said. “So, that dude’s been in some wars. You know, he’s been in wars with my boy Justin Gaethje. He’s taken some damage.”
Girtz also believes those years of damage have taken something out of Palomino.
“I do believe he has slowed down,” Girtz said. “I do believe he’s collecting checks. But, you know, that might not be in his head. He might think he’s still a spring chicken.
“That dude’s been through, like I said, more wars than I have. When I tell someone that, it’s kind of crazy because I’ve been through quite a few.”
A Half-Million-Dollar Goal
Girtz is also keeping an eye on the rest of the tournament.
Luis Peña has his attention, although Girtz admitted that another fighter in Peña’s opening-round matchup initially concerned him more from a stylistic standpoint.
“Peña’s dangerous for sure,” Girtz said. “But the guy he beat, stylistically, me and him matched up, I feel, harder.
“I know Peña is tricky, but the guy he beat just wore out trying to finish Peña. And Peña put him away. So, that was kind of crazy because I looked at the guy Peña beat as one of my toughest – what would have been one of my toughest tasks.”
There is no firm date for the tournament semifinals, which Girtz actually considers a positive. Bare-knuckle MMA is not exactly a sport conducive to rigid turnaround times.
“I think that’s a good thing,” Girtz said. “I’ve seen that type of stuff where they have direct dates, and then people get injured. I mean, this is a tough sport.”
Before Girtz can worry about another date or another opponent, he has Palomino standing in his way.
Two veterans known for getting into wars will meet without gloves in the Dominican Republic. Toss in the possibility of advancing one step closer to a $500,000 prize, and Girtz does not need to manufacture any additional hype.
“Luis Palomino is still someone that’s going to bring it,” Girtz said. “He’s got that warrior heart, so he only knows how to fight hard.
“That’s the style I go into, too. So, I think it’s going to be a hell of a fight.”