MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Austin Trout Looks to Make History As Two-Sport Champ in BKFC | Morning Kombat

Episode Date: January 31, 2024

Former boxing Junior middleweight titleholder Austin “No Doubt” Trout chats with Brian Campbell ahead of Friday’s vacant welterweight title bout against unbeaten Luis Palomino at BKFC 57 in Hollywood, Florida. Trout talks about his transition to the sport in his 2023 win over Diego Sanchez and whether he could be in line for a showdown against Mike Perry. Morning Kombat is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts.     For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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task but austin this transition you're one to know you beat diego sanchez last year everybody's got to be asking you what's the difference when you go from boxing to the bare knuckle? Because it's got to be like being thrown in the incinerator here. It gets wild in that circle. It does. The biggest difference is boxing is, in my opinion, pure science.

BKFC is more it's a fight. You've got to have your science in there. The smarter fighter wins, in my opinion, still. But that smarter fighter better be able to fight. You know, you got to have your science in there. The smarter fighter wins, in my opinion, still. But that smarter fighter better be able to fight, nonetheless. Because, you know, you're going to end up scrapping sooner or later. And whether you can take a punch and keep going is, you know, you're going to find out.

Yeah, indeed. Indeed. We're certainly going to find out at BKFC 57, Hollywood, Florida. And we mentioned Luis Palomino. So, Austin, I don't need to tell you his accomplishments. He's the pound-for-pound king in BKFC, 9-0 in the promotion, the current lightweight champion, and he also formerly had the welterweight crown but was stripped due to inactivity.

So, from you coming with the boxing brain, and let's be honest, you are a crafty, slick, southpaw, pure boxer. How do you deal with this monster come Friday night? We're going to have to fight his ass, right? Like I said, you know, he's coming and in my opinion, his best bet is to make it ugly, make it a rough fight. So not that we want to fight his fight, but we can, and we will if we must. And I think we'll be better at it than he is in this. In my, you know, deep down inside, I believe I'm the better fighter. Now, I'm going to show him not only the grit

but the skill um and we're gonna try to dominate this because i'm going to his backyard so you know decisions ain't my friend so how did you end up here that's really what i want to know because you're you're on a six fight win streak in boxing 38 years old but we've seen you last calendar year you've been actually jumping around the globe for opportunities when that call rings and they're like that call you know and they go hey you got to take the gloves off though you got to fight that UFC guy you got to get in this circle here it's not for everybody and also not every boxer can make this transition what was that conversation like for you so you know I know, I was a fan of it, and I was telling the boys, you know, watching this bare-knuckle game, you know, I would do that.

You know, the right opportunity presented itself. Lo and behold, last February, you know, shout out to Nelson Lopez, my man called and was like, hey, would you do bare-knuckle? I was like, yeah, yeah, guess who? They said Diego. I said, oh, yeah, bad, for sure, for sure.. So as you said, I'm on a six fight winning streak. You sit there and wait for a year to go by for some opportunity to come. Staying busy is in my best interest, especially at this old age. And I don't feel old. I'm just quoting what everybody calls it. But it's not good for me to sit down for a year and then go fight some killer and that's what was going on the last few years of my career so uh i've just i've just been trying to avoid that staying busy

taking fights getting opportunities wherever i can and you know all praise the guys it's taking me to germany dubai you know i've been jet setting a little bit now i'm about to get a bare knuckle championship. Yeah, you've fought in four different countries in your last six boxing matches. You had that debut in your home state of New Mexico there, but now you'll be in Florida in your opponent's backyard. So you're 38. Luis Palomino's 43.

So, you know, age these days is all relative, and it's maybe not what it used to be. But what do you feel like when you get in there and train at this age? Is it I can be the best as I ever was on any given night? I'm just, you know, with experience and with smarts, I work smarter, not harder. I still work hard, though. So, like, you know, training, I still enjoy training. I still enjoy getting in shape. That's, you know, training, I still enjoy training. I still enjoy getting in shape. That's,

you know, the process. Um, I don't allow myself to get too much out of shape. So, so, cause I didn't like getting from out of shape to in shape. What I like is getting in shape to better shape. So let me rewind. I hate having to get in shape. But I do love getting into great shape. So now, you know, the discipline between fights has been a lot more tight. And I've just been able to get with a lot of these guys. You know, I got this team combat league coming up in March. I'm coaching and, you know, I'm really, really, I'm really pressed to tell these guys, like, you can't beat me. You can't fight. Like, from middleweight's down, you know what I mean? Nah, light heavyweight's down. If you can't beat me, you don't get a spot.

I'm taking you to a spot. But, nah, for real, I got a good group of guys. And although I'm talking trash, I wouldn't test none of them. You know, them guys are fighters. Yeah, for real, for sure. From an accomplishment standpoint, you've been the junior middleweight champion of the world. You fought Canelo in the Alamo Dome in a unification. You beat Miguel Cotto in Madison Square Garden.

You've done some things, Austin, and you've done it, by the way, in a very great story of somebody who was never maybe the first pick of the boxing promoters. I remember when you won your world title in Mexico of all places. What would a BKFC belt actually mean? I mean, at this point, you'll collect the checks while you can still get them, but from a sporting accomplishment, what does this value hold for you? I mean, I feel like winning this belt will make me like the Deion Sanders of combat sports. You know, two-sport, two-time world champion, that's not too shabby. And even if the BKFC is a new baby, but, you know,

they got some real fighters in there. And in every champ that I've seen, every one of them seems legit to me. So I think it's a great accomplishment. It's all eyes on this title because, again, to be a two-sport, two-time world champion, that's not bad. Not bad at all. Not bad at all. You've got a little bit more invested than most.

I've seen you do some broadcasting work with BKFC and enjoyed seeing your voice added in. So why is this working? Because this promotion is red hot right now. I got to give Dave Feldman a lot of credit. But from your view, why is it working when there's a lot of boxing business, a lot of MMA business,

but this kind of maybe bridges the gap? That's exactly what you said right there. It bridges the gap. Taking the gloves off is a great equalizer you know you got somebody who who may be faster and more skills but you got somebody who could take a punch and give a punch like my man mike perry he's never been the most skilled guy in the ring but he has been definitely the toughest in his work for him and his game plan is to punch him your fist with his face and then punch your face with his fist and you know that this this this sport is perfect for guys like that and the fans win every time someone like mike steps in or

someone like even baboon steps in and soon enough enough, every time I step in, the fans are going to win because, you know, like I said, it's a fight. You lose points if you run. And as a boxer who appreciates the footwork, and I would never call another boxer running, especially if it's working. That doesn't apply in the BKFC. They don't allow it. not it's not it's frowned upon so you know standing toe-to-toe the two-minute sprint you know um it just it has a good like for

instance i think that two minute was genius taking the gloves on putting the two minute five two minute rounds because these guys got to fight you know you only got two minutes to work as opposed to three five minute rounds you know or even five five minute rounds for championships or 12 three minute round you have time to not do anything you know there's a lot of time to waste and as a fighter who knows about wasting the clock, you know, we have tactics and wasting time. There's no time to waste in the BKFC. I think that's why it's working. No time to waste.

And you got some guys that want to fight. Now, did you get any pushback in-house? Literally your family of going, all right, Austin, we've supported you. But I saw Paulie Malnage get carved up in this sport. I mean, was that a hard conversation? It was. And, you know, I'm still having these conversations because now that it's getting close to fight time, they're like, what are you doing to us?

My wife was already years ago talking about, so what year, what age do you plan on retiring? And, you know, that conversation was like, well, I don't want to put a number on it because what if I need to retire before and I hold out too long just to make that number or what if i'm killing it and i'm past that number but i quit before you know i could milked it all you know dry and i don't want to put a number playing it by ear i go for like do i like do i want to train that's first and foremost if i don't want to train? That's first and foremost. If I don't want to train, that's when you're going to get hurt. Okay. Are you able? Well, you know, all these young boys that, that received ass whoopings from yours truly, they tell me I Luckily, I'm in this research program that goes, I go to Vegas and I take these brain scans

and all these memory tests, speech tests, and they compare my results from previous years and to other fighters and to other non-fighters. Introducing the new McSpicy from McDonald's. It looks like a regular chicken sandwich, but it's actually a spicy chicken sandwich. McSpicy, Consider yourself warned. Limited time only at participating McDonald's in Canada.

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So in even some years, you know, it's gotten better, you know, so the graph goes up a little bit sometimes. So also as long as that's still working and this is still working, we're just going to ride it. I'm about to be champion of the BKFC. I have obligations as a champion of this company, and I will fulfill those obligations. And then we'll talk about what's next.

Well, I don't want to get too far ahead, but you mentioned Mike Perry, who, to his credit, has turned his move from UFC to Big KFC into, like, legit stardom, and he's going in there against killers, and he's walking through hell, and he's getting his hand raised. If you become welterweight champion, you're really not that far away from Mike Perry's, you know, fighting weight. Is that a future-coming attraction that you'd be interested in? It sounds like that's where the Mike Perry's, you know, fighting weight? Is that a future coming attraction that you'd be interested in?

It sounds like that's where the money's at. But, you know, Mike Perry, I'm not even a 165 pounder for real. I still make 155, 154 fairly easy. You know, coming up to 165 was the best deal I could get. You know, I wanted to fight him at 155. So we definitely would have to think about that one. Because that would be like going up damn near four or five weight classes for me in the boxing world.

I know it's really two. He's what, 175 or 185? I think he's around that 170 area, yeah. I'm not sure what some of those contracts have been because he did fight bigger guys like Rockhold, so he had to move up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, I'm down. I ain't never ducking any smoke.

And I got a plan for Mike Perry just knowing that that may be something that happens. I already got a – I'm like Batman. I got a contingency plan for him already. Well, we've seen boxing crossovers before. I know Ishe Smith won a bare knuckle fight. Pauly Malinagy fought an MMA fighter and came up empty. But when I talk to the MMA fighters about the bare knuckle style that is still evolving because this sport, while not new, is new to this era, a lot of people are talking about that fencing jab that you maybe can't use

some of the traditional footwork and setups in boxing. How do you address that being somebody who comes from such a very good technical background in boxing? Well, I think my jab worked just great in the first fight. And my jab is going to work just fine in this next fight. The jab, I feel like is almost key. And if they think doing away with the jab is going to hurt them, this is fine in this next fight. The jab, I feel like, is almost key. And if they think doing away with the jab is going to hurt them,

then I would love to fight every one of those guys. Do you – is the bare knuckle aspect, does that – what does that change for the strategy? Can you load up on punches? How do you work with that? So that's one thing that I learned from the last fight. for the strategy? Can you load up on punches? How do you work with that? That's one thing that I learned from the last fight. Again, this is only my second time. I'm going to learn a lot during this fight and be even

better for my third fight. But in the first fight, I learned that you don't need to really sit on your punches. If you hit them in the right place, they're going to go down. You know, all those shots that I was catching Diego with,

I was, you know, catching a perfect good load up, sitting on those shots, none of them put him down except for that one arm punch that I caught him when he turned into the shot. It was an arm punch. I didn't put nobody into it, nothing. And he dropped like a sack of potatoes. So, you know, letting my hands go without sitting on your shots is better for me because you know letting my hands go without sitting on your shots is

better for me because i can save my hands while causing you know just as much damage i would if i was sitting on those shots you know now can the phone still ring in the boxing game are you hoping it will even with a bkfc championship potentially friday night yeah i definitely hope it will um you know shout out to Legacy Promotions. I think they got something going for me. Hopefully by, God willing, I heal up and everything's fine. We can get back into it by March, depending on what was happening. But first things first, it's Palomino,

and then we'll see what I have to do as far as obligations go as a newly crowned champion. How do you look at what you've accomplished in boxing? I ask this a lot because I'm curious of guys. Some guys will surprise me and say, for everything you might be excited for me that I accomplished, I didn't reach my goals. Have you reached or exceeded the goals that you set out with when you first got into this game? Well, to be honest, no.

I wanted to be the undefeated undisputed world champion i got to be undefeated world champion but i never got that undisputed um unfortunately i looking back you know i had a good career have i have a good career it's it's nothing to shy at. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's something to be very proud of. For me, you know, those losses, it's really hard to get past. You know, it's like, yeah, I had some good wins.

But a lot of my good wins, no one got to see. You know? Yeah, thank God they got to see the Kota win. But, you know, I was in Panama fighting Nilsa Tapia, who was, you know, the Colombian champion. I went to Canada for the Canadian-Haitian champion, you know, and had some real good fights that nobody really got to see. But all my big losses, everybody got to see.

You know what I mean? Well, you fought well in a lot of those. I think you gave the Charlos, each of them, their toughest test to date on their rise up. I mean, I've told you for years, there's a conspiracy theory that you could have scored it for you over Canelo. That's the score I had. I don't know what was going on with that open scoring that night.

They had like 8-0 on one scorecard. I mean, I don't know what was going on with that open scoring that night. They had like eight nothing on one scorecard. I mean, what are we doing here, Austin? Yeah, you know, and, you know, that's those are the stories I'm not telling. When you see it, it's just the L. But, you know, there's more to there's more context to that loss than just seeing it on payroom. So I'll get over it one of these days. But you know what? Being a BKFC champion helps me get over it.

I could go look back at those glory days like they were the these days. But you know what? Being a BKFC champion helps me get over it. I can go look back at those glory days like they were the glory days. Wasn't the ending I wanted, but I was there. And like you said, I gave both Charles and Russ for their money. I was whooping hers ass. I was probably one of the last people besides Triple G that walked Canelo down for 12 rounds. So, you know, none of that's nothing to shy. I'm proud of what I've done. Absolutely.

And when we talk about that 2012 night in Madison Square Garden, which I think should be talked about more because it was such an exciting upset when he went in there. I mean, Margarito, Mosley,ley judah legends they couldn't beat miguel cotto in the most world's most famous arena when you go back to that night i remember being ringside it was supposed to be you know what was it supposed to be cotto canelo next i mean you spoiled that yeah pressure on you you had showtime all access cameras following you you really turned out that night when you look back what are you most proud of well you know i i called i told everybody i was like man koto ain't winning this fight i'm telling y'all right now um i look you know everything

worked out as as as we planned it but that was not the plan of everybody else. So, you know, in fact, one of the funniest moments of that night was the WBA usually, when you win a belt, they'll make you your own belt later, right? Because they don't know whose hands are going to change. So you're taking pictures with the former champion's belt, and you do all that, but you give it back. They thought Cotto was going to win, so they made a new belt. And once I won, man, they had to give me a new belt so now i got multiple multiple wba world title belts um that was that was cool i believed in me you know i mean i ain't nobody else to believe well hey same uh same story entering Friday. As long as you believe you got a huge opportunity,

unbeaten Luis Palomino in front of you. Let's close with this. What did you say his nickname was? Oh, the Baboon, right? The Baboon, yeah. I mean, this guy had a very decorated MMA career, by the way. What he's done in BKFC is where he is really putting the stamp on. What makes him so dangerous?

How do you beat him Fridayiday night in south florida well you know let me know he's got a good mix of very he's good good footwork good speed good power um you know and and he he's got that that weird rhythm he kind of jumps in he'll blast you he'll stand out um i think for me dictating the pace, dictating the rhythm, stepping to him and not letting him dictate when he wants to attack is going to be key. It's going to be a lot of mind games that we're going to execute with our skill. Hey, it gets dirty in the clinch there in this sport, Austin.

I don't know if I can say that. All right. Yeah, absolutely. In fact, the first fight, I initiated the clinch, and I bodied Diego in that clinch there in this sport austin i don't know absolutely all right yeah absolutely in fact the first fight i initiated the clinch and i bodied you on that clinch he didn't want to hold me no more man there it is austin no doubt trout by the way always a pleasure to chat with you one of the good guys in this combat sports game i wish you well friday night bkfc 57 the welterweight title on the line go get them thank you man have a good one brian