Yampier Ramirez has a simple view of fighting, he wants opponents standing in front of him. That is why the unbeaten Cuban bare-knuckle champion says he moved away from MMA and committed himself to BKB ahead of his August 29 fight with Tristian Harrison in Miami.
Ramirez, 22, meets Harrison in a super lightweight bout on the BKB 58 undercard at the James L. Knight Center. The Hialeah-based fighter enters with a 4-0 BKB record, all four wins ending inside the distance.
Yampier Ramirez Explains Why MMA Was Never for Him Ahead of BKB 58
“I like to fight,” Ramirez said. “I was in MMA before and I couldn’t get out of MMA fast enough.” His issue was never with combat itself. It was with what happened after he threw a punch. “In MMA, when you throw a strike, they always want to take it to the ground. And that I don’t like.”
For Ramirez, bare knuckle removes that interruption. The BKB Trigon is a striking contest with little room to reset, stall or turn a hard exchange into a grappling sequence. “Going toe to toe,” he said, is where he wants to be. “In BKB, you have to take me out, and I’m going to take you out.”
Ramirez’s record supports the confidence. He stopped Kendell Ward in the first round of his BKB debut in August 2024, followed it with another first-round TKO against Trey Howard, then knocked out former champion Brandon Birr in the second round. In March, he won the vacant BKB featherweight title by stopping previously unbeaten Ashley Williams in round two.
The promotion’s fighter page lists Ramirez as 4-0, with wins over Williams, Birr, Howard and Ward, while showing the Harrison fight as his next assignment. It lists Cuba as his hometown and Hialeah, Florida, as the place he fights out of.
Ramirez also arrived with professional boxing experience. Before bare knuckle became his main route, he had compiled a 7-0 pro boxing record. His technical background and willingness to trade have translated quickly to the smaller, three-sided BKB ring.
Ramirez was born and raised in Havana before building his career in South Florida. He has described a difficult upbringing, recalling shortages of food and electricity, while emphasizing how people looked after one another with what they had.
He says he has been fighting since he was six and credits his family and surroundings for giving him the push to continue. His target reaches beyond a single title run: he wants to represent Cuba at the highest level possible and believes the direct demands of bare-knuckle fighting fit that mission.
BKB 58 takes place Saturday, August 29, at Miami’s James L. Knight Center. Ramirez-Harrison is scheduled as the eighth bout on the announced card, with the event headlined by Cuban heavyweight champion Gustavo Trujillo defending against Mark O’Neil.
The show also features Yuriorkis Gamboa’s bare-knuckle debut against Yesner Talavera, former UFC fighter Aspen Ladd against Bianca Daimoni and Alberto Blas defending the BKB super featherweight title against Brandon Birr.
