BYB SPOTLIGHT: LT NELSON

August 17th, LT Nelson will have a chance to introduce himself to the entire bare knuckle world.

On August 17th, LT Nelson (5-1-1, 5 KO's) enters the fight that could change his life as he takes on one of the greatest bare knucklers ever in the form of Barrie Jones (10-0, 9 KO's) at BYB 30. If he is going to pull off the historic victory, he will have to do so in Jones’ backyard of Cardiff, Wales. 

For Nelson, fighting is all he knows. He has competed professionally in five different combat disciplines, across over 40 fights, eventually finding bare knuckle in 2022. You can make the case that this is his calling and he would agree with you.

“I love this bare knuckle s**t. I’m throwin’ down for life.” - Nelson said in an interview with myself.

He’s only 34 years old too. So, he’s got plenty of time theoretically to continue making a name for himself.

In just seven bare knuckle fights he has won world titles in two divisions and has made it on BK Nation’s top 10 pound for pound list. A win would put him in the top five hands (knuckles) down and maybe even top three. 

Even though he’s found success in this ungloved chaos, that hasn’t stopped him from staying active in other disciplines. Since he started bare knuckle in 2022, he has four more fights outside the sport. He just loves being active and that has proved beneficial inside the ring. 

LT has had 8 fights in multiple disciplines since the beginning of 2023 and he hasn’t lost one. The closest he came was a draw against James Connelly a year ago. Surprisingly enough, in 2024, he only had one outing and that was against Tommy Turner, a common opponent between Nelson and Jones. Unfortunately for Tuner he faced the same fate in both fights, a knockout loss in the first round, just a year apart from each other. But for combat fans, common opponents are a decent comparison that can be made when thinking about a fight. Especially when the contests are that close to each other. If you’re going off the Turner performances, then this one lines up to be a brawl for as long as it lasts. 

Obviously, the skill level standing across from them is much greater in this case and that’s 100% going to play a factor. That’s what makes this fight so exciting, you just don’t know how it will play out.

In that aforementioned interview I had with LT, it took place prior to the Turner fight. Nelson fought on the undercard of the Jones vs Turner event. I asked him what he thought of the fight. He said and I’ll paraphrase, “honestly it was kind of like 50/50 as they were just throwing hooks waiting to see who would land first.”

But then he also said, “Barrie Jones is a G man and who knows maybe we'll throw down someday.”

Little did LT know, BYB was in the process of acquiring BKB - Barrie’s former promotion - and their next fight would be against each other. 

Maybe the best thing you fans would want to hear from that interview is when he said, “I’m always going for the knockout and I’m ready for a war.”

Photo courtesy: BYB Extreme