"F**k Sean Strickland" - BKFC 66 headliner Ryan Reber weighs in on UFC star's criticism of bare-knuckle fighter pay

Ryan Reber is squarely focused on his BKFC 66 main event but was not happy with some negative comments from Sean Strickland toward the bare-knuckle boxing promotion.

BKFC pay was something that the former UFC middleweight champion was critical of when talking with media before his last fight. In the lead up to his UFC 302 contest with Paulo Costa, Strickland dismissed the idea of ever entering the world of gloveless combat while saying that promotion did not pay their fighters properly.

Speaking on Bare Knuckle Bowker, Reber discussed his feelings on Strickland's comments regarding Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship payouts when he said:

"The thing I do agree with is like ok, me fighting for the belt, I feel like in my mind the situation I'm in, main event I should be getting a lot more. But I also got to remember where I came from. I've got no background, I don't got a huge following. So for where I'm at and what I'm doing, I'm good with that."

He added:

"But to me realistically it ain't even necessarily about the money, it's about the legacy... So it can kind of be agreed with but at the end of the day, man, f*** [Sean] Strickland for those comments. He's not the one in here doing this s***. He's not the one in here f****** taking bone on bone, man. He just kind of wanted to be an a**hole. He thinks he's funny."

Check out Reber's retort to Strickland putting down BKFC payouts below (23:40):

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Ryan Reber and his path to gold at BKFC 66 this week

Ryan Reber will challenge current champion Alberto Blas for the BKFC bantamweight belt this Friday as both men enter the ring with undefeated records in bare-knuckle boxing. While Blas boasts an impressive 5-0 record with five first round finishes in the promotion, Reber steps into the ring this weekend as a 6-0 bare knuckle fighter.

The 37-year-old began his run with BKFC by putting together back to back stoppage wins and then securing a victory via disqualification. These bouts came against Micah Mitchell, Rick Caruso, and Jack Grady, respectively. Reber would then defeat ranked bantamweight and BKFC 1 veteran Travis Thompson after besting him on points in the sudden death sixth round at BKFC 47.

The Connecticut native would then secure a fourth round finish and a unanimous decision victory against Derek Perez and Anthony Foye at BKFC 57 and BKFC 61, respectively.

Now we are in fight week and Reber has a chance to become the sixth man ever to hold the BKFC bantamweight belt.