Tomorrow night’s Shamrock FC: FUEL card in St. Louis, Missouri will feature a matchup of undefeated fighters as Kyle Kurtz will look to improve to 5-0 when he meets Joaquin Buckley on the card coming from the River City Casino.
Kurtz (4-0) made his professional debut at the beginning of this year and opened up with three straight victories coming in the first round. His fourth professional fight came at Bellator 138 in June and scored a submission victory against Ultimate Fighter alum Adam Cella.
The transition he made to lock in the armbar submission caught the eyes of everyone watching. However, Kurtz was not completely happy with his performance in the fight.
“I rate my performance like a five out of ten,” Kurtz recently told The MMA Report. “Coming out of the victory, I was glad to finish it, but definitely not a high rating for me. I do not feel like I was anywhere near the ability that I can perform that night. I definitely do not rate it too high myself.”
“I like the moment of finishing with the real technical armbar,” he continued. “But I do not feel like I put myself out there 100 percent. I felt drained prior to the fight. Just one of those things that I could not get off with my punches and my kicks the way I wanted to. I felt really slow. Definitely one of those fights that you have to go over. Look at what I did wrong. Even when I was super tired. What can I say? You don’t always show up on fight night even when you prep for it to the highest. It’s just one of those fights.”
While Kurtz and Buckley are undefeated, this will be the second time that they will meet each other. Back in April of last year, they met at Shamrock FC: Revenge in an amateur fight and Buckley scored a decision victory. Kurtz believes he will walk out on top this time and stated that Buckley is not going to get in his way of accomplishing his dreams.
“I see a real tough and hungry guy,” Kurtz stated about his opponent at Shamrock FC: FUEL. “He does not have to go through as much as I do. The sacrifices that I have to prior to my fight. My training camp and everything else. I have a family. I have three kids, a wife and I have a lot of sacrifices that I have to deal with. Not being able to spend much time with my family — getting set up for each fight. He is hungry and I can tell. He is not going to get in my way of accomplishing my dreams. He is a wrestler and power puncher, but he is not as technical or as fast as me.”
Shamrock FC: FUEL will come from the River City Casino in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday and the event will be available on the Shamrock FC website for a price of $12.99.