Jimmie Rivera says four opponents – including Chad Mendes – turned him down in BKFC, expects to fight for the belt next time out

Jimmie Rivera finally got his first win in BKFC.

Rivera made his BKFC debut last June against Howard Davis and they fought to a draw. Since then, he has been campaigning for a fight but he says numerous fighters turned him down, including Chad Mendes, which was frustrating for Rivera as he wanted to be more active than this.

“I didn’t know anything about him. Even after the fight, I learned more about him. I signed the contract a week before the fight and I got my opponent two days before the fight because the first four opponents didn’t want to take the fight,” Rivera said to BJPENN.com. “It’s been a rough five months as I’ve wanted to fight for a while now and finally got something done. Guys have just been turning me down so I have been sitting on my ass waiting for something to happen… I was offered to fight Chad in my debut and he turned it down. I’m a tough fight for anyone, it’s not an easy win and some guys are scared. I may be little but I punch f*****g hard.”

With Rivera having a hard time getting an opponent, he ended up facing BKFC newcomer Bekhzod Usmonov at BKFC 43 on Friday. In the fight, Rivera landed the better shots and knew he clearly won as he says his experience really helped him know how to fight in Bare Knuckle.

“It helped to have the experience, but I am still learning the ruleset. Still learning things but having that one fight under my belt made it a lot easier than my first fight doing bare-knuckle,” Rivera said.

Following the win, Jimmie Rivera was told he will get a title shot next time out so that is the plan. The vacant title will headline BKFC 44 as Kai Stewart takes on Louie Lopez. With that, Rivera says he expects Lopez to win but is confident he beats whoever becomes the new champ.

“The 145 belt is on the line on June 9 so hopefully I get the winner next time out. I don’t have a preference on who I fight, I do think Lopez takes it but it is bare-knuckle so anything can happen. But, I’ll fight either of them, it doesn’t f*****g matter,” Rivera concluded. “I did hear there is a big card in September so I’m hoping the title fight can happen then, but if it can happen sooner I’m down for that, too.”

What did you make of Jimmie Rivera’s BKFC 43 win?