A goalie growing up, Alberta's Drew (Wild Boy) Stuve avoided hockey fights. But he welcomes the rough stuff these days.
The 28-year-old has found a home in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, headlining Saturday's BKFC Fight Night Edmonton card.
Stuve, who won his first two bare-knuckle outings, takes on 42-year-old American Will (The Brown Bomber) Santiago (2-1-1) at the River Cree Resort and Casino in suburban Enoch.
With his shaved head, tattoos and handlebar moustache, Stuve looks like he just walked off a Guy Ritchie movie set.
Stuve knows his way around a moustache. A former full-time barber, Stuve sold his shop to focus on fighting but still cuts hair, working out of his home around training.
Stuve more than looks the part of a bare knuckle fighter, however.
In his BKFC debut in March 2024, he defeated fellow Canadian (Lethal) Jay Kelly by first-round TKO. Last August, he stopped B.C.-based Briton Sonny (The Savage) Smith at 1:11 of the second round.
The first fight was a frenetic 71-second affair that saw Kelly come on like a berserker. It was trial by fire with Kelly's first punch slicing Stuve's face open.
But Stuve's superior striking showed through and Kelly went down, unable to continue.
It was a learning experience all round. Stuve wore a mouthguard with slightly protruding fangs that penetrated his lip.
More in control second time out, Stuve was able to use his boxing to control the distance. He floored Smith just 10 seconds into the fight but was staggered himself soon after and went down himself late in the round.
Stuve cut Smith under the eye, finishing him off with the third knockdown of the second round. Stuve outstruck Smith 67-27, connecting on 63 per cent of his punches.
"I wouldn't say it's comfortable. It's uncomfortable. I'm getting punched in the (expletive) face but I love it," Stuve said after the fight. "I feel like a (expletive) gangster."
Saturday's card is the BKFC's third in Canada. Stuve fought on the first two which were BKFC Prospects cards featuring up-and-coming talent.
This time it's a regular BKFC show.
Growing up in Edson, Alta., Stuve played Jr. B hockey, moving to Dallas and Vancouver Island to continue his career. But he quit when his interest in the sport dwindled.
"Honestly I'm a way better fighter than I was a hockey player," he said with a laugh.
"I love just seeing what you can, what you can accomplish — especially in such a hard, rough sport," he added. "My parents don't understand it. Most people don't understand it. But I like to see what you're capable of as a human and how far you can push yourself."
While Stuve avoided dropping the gloves in hockey, he found himself in more than a few scraps growing up, often when someone made fun of his sister who has a developmental disability.
"I had a lot of anger as a kid," he said.
His journey into combat sports started in Edmonton when he decided to drop into a local boxing club after driving past it every day on the way to work. A bar fight had convinced the then-18-year-old that he needed to find a way to control his emotions "in a proper way."
He had his first amateur boxing bout two months later.
Stuve, whose boxing record is 1-1-0 as a pro, drew the attention of BKFC after impressing at tryouts at Edmonton's Wolfhouse MMA gym.
"Honestly I never thought I'd do bare knuckle," he said. "I Like watching it but I thought it was kind of crazy."
BKFC bouts are contested in a ring with five two-minute rounds. Fighters are permitted to wrap and tape the wrist, thumb and mid-hand, but no gauze or tape can be within 2.5 centimetres of the knuckles. Punches are the only strike allowed.
Without the benefit of gloves, cuts are common. And they can lead to doctor-mandated stoppages, which prevent the losing fighter from taking more damage.
"I'm just good at it," said Stuve. "My fighting style works really well for bare knuckle."
Smith can attest to that. Stuve broke his nose with his right hand.
After contesting his first two BKFC bouts at welterweight (165 pound), Stuve has moved up to middleweight (175 pounds) after putting on pounds through a weightlifting program.
At six foot two, Stuve will have a four-inch advantage in height and 3.5 inches in reach over Santiago, who took the fight when original opponent Michael Manno dropped out.
Santiago has a 9-7-0 record as a pro mixed martial arts fighter, losing to American Kevin Holland on Dana White's Contender Series in June 2018. Holland has gone on to post a 15-11-0 record with one no contest in the UFC.
Originally from Boston, Santiago moved to New Mexico to train at the storied Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque.
Other Canadians on Saturday's card include (Super) Chad Lucanas, Tim (The Chin) Tamaki, (Hungry) Hasan Al-Ghanim, Nick (The Fury) Felber, James (Flash) Dalzell, Alexandra (Papa Al) Delgado-Lopez, Kimani (The King) Crawford, Matt (The Hawk) Socholotiuk, Adam (Clooney) De Freitas, Justin Kennedy, Caeden (Prettiest) Scott, and Kayden (The Giant) Giroux.
Bohdan (Iron Hammer) Kotok is originally from Poland but now lives in Canada.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
