When Gaston Reyno signed with the BKFC in 2023, he made it clear that he still had one major career goal that he had yet to accomplish. More than anything, ‘Tonga’ wanted the opportunity to fight on a major event in his home country, Uruguay.
The Montevideo native came close to achieving that goal when the UFC visited his hometown in 2019. Reyno was then with the prominent regional MMA promotion Combate America, which he believed would get him into the UFC, but nothing ever came to fruition.
Reyno admitted that few things hurt more in his fighting career than watching UFC Uruguay on TV from the United States.
“When I was with Combate Americas, I thought everything would get figured out,” Reyno told KO on SI. “It didn’t happen, so I could not even go to the event. I had to watch it on TV. It was terrible. But, you know, some things happen for a reason. Because if I was there, I couldn’t be a commentator — my other job, which I enjoy a lot.”
Seven years later, Reyno can now scratch that itch when the BKFC breaks onto Uruguayan soil on July 25. He headlines the 11-fight card against Nebraska native Josh Krejci.
“Now, I have the opportunity to fight in that same stadium, but not on the preliminary card. Not just another one of the guys. I can be the main event against an opponent from outside of Uruguay, so the people will be supporting me. That made me very proud.”
How Gaston Reyno helped build BKFC Uruguay
Although Reyno is still not a household name in the BKFC, he is his country’s most prominent active fighter. The 39-year-old is well known in the Hispanic community as an analyst and commentator for ESPN Latin America, frequently appearing on the popular ‘ESPN Knockout’ program.
Reyno used that platform to nudge the BKFC in the right direction until officials finally saw where he was coming from.
“When I started fighting, every time after I was on the microphone saying, ‘We have to go to Uruguay.’ Then, last year, the people at the BKFC came to Uruguay to watch the stadium, watch the city, then say, ‘We can do an event here.’ I always had pressure in my past fights, because I knew I needed to win to make this event happen.”
“It was hard, but I tried to convince everyone. You know what we say here in Uruguay? Comer la oreja. Like, in the ear of everybody. I kept saying we have to go. Now it finally happened. The company, all the people, the production — they all did the job. It was a dream in my mind, and the BKFC made it happen.”
Gaston Reyno expects Uruguay to embrace BKFC
Reyno began his career in MMA and has also dipped his toes into boxing, but nothing suits him quite like bare-knuckle.
However, the same cannot be said for the rest of South America, which has yet to gravitate toward bare-knuckle boxing as it has to MMA. The lack of popularity is reflected in the BKFC Uruguay fight card, where 18 of the 22 competing fighters will be making their bare-knuckle debuts.
Regardless, ‘Tonga’ is a fan of the sport as much as he is a student of the game and expects all his fellow countrymen to feel the same on July 25.
“I think everybody will love it, from the bottom of my heart,” Reyno said. “You go to watch a bare-knuckle fight and you fall in love with the action. The guys don’t start from the corners; they start in the middle. From bell to bell, all action, and people love that. This is the beginning of something huge.”
Reyno said his love for the BKFC nearly has him convinced to get the company’s logo tattooed on his upper left arm.
With a win, Reyno would improve to 4-0 with the support of an entire country behind him. While he claims he is not looking at the BKFC lightweight title just yet, Reyno feels that a strong performance in Uruguay could convince the promotion to give him a path to a South American belt, potentially giving his region even more reason to invest in the sport.
“I’m not worried about the rankings right now. But I will not lie to you. There is a North American champion, a European champion, and an Asian champion. Why not a South American champion? If they create a South American belt at 155 pounds, I may be one of the guys fighting for it.”
Add us as a preferred source on Google
