Jimmie Rivera expecting a “brawl” against Jeremy Stephens at BKFC 56: “I’m going in there for a war”

Jimmie Rivera is excited to throw down with Jeremy Stephens at BKFC 56.

Rivera hasn’t fought since May when he beat Bekhzod Usmonov by decision in his second BKFC fight. While Rivera admits he was hopeful to return sooner, he is glad he was patient and now gets to be on a massive BKFC 56 card.

“We were trying to get back in there sooner. But, it all depends on the days Dave is looking at for us to get back in there, so I had to be patient. It’s definitely worth it to be patient because it’s a big card,” Rivera said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com.

Once he was told he would be on BKFC 56, which takes place on Saturday, Dec. 2 from Salt Lake City, Utah, he was offered two names and one being Jeremy Stephens. Without hesitation, Rivera jumped at the chance to fight Stephens sans gloves as he thinks it will be a fun fight for the fans.

“I got offered two guys and he was one of the guys. I was like yeah, let’s do that fight, I feel like it will be a fun fight and we will have a lot of fun. With that said, I was like this is going to be fun and we are going to go in there and fight,” River said.

Not only does Jimmie Rivera think it will be a fun fight for the fans, but the UFC veteran is expecting it to be a back-and-forth brawl.

Rivera is confident he will get the win due to his experience in BKFC. However, he knows both of them will get hurt at some point in the fight.

“I don’t know, I just think it’s going to be a brawl, it’s going to be a fun fight,” Rivera said. “I think we are going to rock each other and we are going to have fun. At least I’m going to have fun because it’s been a minute since I’ve been in there competing. I’m going in there for a war.”

Should Jimmie Rivera get the win at BKFC 56, he says he’s been told he will get a title shot at featherweight against the winner of Kai Stewart vs. Howard Davis, which takes place on the same card.

“That is what I was told. Get this win and then fight for the belt at 145lbs,” Rivera concluded.