Quebec's Jade Masson-Wong looks to punch her way to the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship title Friday when she takes on flyweight champion Christine (The Misfit) Ferea in the main event of BKFC 65 in Salt Lake City.
Masson-Wong, the No. 1 contender, says she's prepared to do what it takes at the Maverik Center.
"Kill or be killed," she said. "That's my mindset for this fight. I hope she's ready to die in the ring because I am and I'm not going to give up until I get my belt."
Not surprisingly, Ferea has other ideas.
"Come (Friday), I will cement my status as the greatest of all time and no one can stop me. Jade will be mentally broken, then physically defeated," said the 41-year-old American who fights out of Las Vegas.
Bare-knuckle fighting is not for everyone, but is conducted — in some jurisdictions — under the same body that regulates boxing and mixed martial arts.
Bouts are contested in a ring with five two-minute rounds. Fighters are permitted to wrap and tape the wrist, thumb and mid-hand, but no gauze or tape can be within 2.5 centimetres of the knuckles. Punches are the only strike allowed.
Without the benefit of gloves, cuts are common. And they can lead to doctor-mandated stoppages, which prevent the losing fighter from taking more damage.
Still Masson-Wong says it normally takes her at least two months to get back to hitting pads after a bare-knuckle bout because of the pounding her hands take.
And there will be other damage.
"I expect from this fight, for sure, to have a couple of stitches in the face. And maybe one or two weeks with a big face," she said with a laugh. "I know it."
She needed two stitches after her first bare-knuckle bout and six more from the second. She says most fighters average two stitches an outing.
The 31-year-old Canadian is 3-1-0 in BKFC action and has won her last two bouts after losing to Christine (La Abusadora) Vicens in February 2022.
Ferea (8-1-0) has her own pedigree. She defeated fellow American Britain Hart in February 2022 to become the promotion's inaugural women's flyweight champion and has defended the title three times since, dispatching American Taylor (Killa Bee) Starling and current BKFC strawweight champion (Rowdy) Bec Rawlings of Australia (twice).
Ferea has won six straight since losing to Helen Peralta at BKFC 7 in August 2019.
The five-foot-four Masson-Wong, who won a decision over Starling at BKFC 43 in May 2023, is bidding to become the first Canadian BKFC title holder.
"I'm really proud. I'm really excited too," she said. "I think I deserve this shot and I'm happy to be where I am now and I'm going to give them a good show."
Still Masson-Wong has a healthy respect for the hard-nosed Ferea.
"She's tough. She's not the champion for nothing," she said.
"But everyone is beatable," she added. "And I see her mistakes."
Masson-Wong divides her time between her native Quebec City and Montreal, where she trains at the Club de Boxe Pound 4 Pound.
Masson-Wong needed just one minute to knock out American Gabrielle Roman in March in Enoch, Alta., in the main event of BKFC's first-ever show in Canada. Masson-Wong knocked the fifth-ranked contender down twice before referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in.
A gymnast as a youth, Masson-Wong started boxing at 13 and mixed martial arts at 18.
She went 3-2-0 in the TKO and Battlefield Fight League promotions losing to future UFC fighter Jamey-Lyn Horth in her last outing in February 2020 before the pandemic hit.
Told BKFC was looking for female fighters, she said “Why not?”
Masson-Wong made her debut at BKFC Montana in October 2021, defeating Crystal Pittman on a doctor’s stoppage after a nasty mouse under Pittman’s right eye opened in the third round, gushing blood.
Next time out, at Knucklemania II in Hollywood, Fla., it was a bloody Masson-Wong who lost on a doctor’s stoppage to Vicens. She bounced back at BKFC 43 in May 2023, winning a five-round decision over Starling in Omaha, Nebraska.
Outside the cage, Masson-Wong is no shrinking violet
The tattooed fighter wore a leather bikini to the weigh-in for the Starling bout while her opponent wore gold lingerie. Masson-Wong has entered the arena for her bouts to the music of bands like Slipknot and Slayer.
A motorcycle buff — and self-proclaimed adrenalin junkie — Masson-Wong rides a 2018 Ducatti 959.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2024
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
