Latest / The Scene Projects / Shyanna Bintliff on Bare Knuckle Fighting, Training, and Building Community

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Shyanna Bintliff on Bare Knuckle Fighting, Training, and Building Community · The Scene Projects

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  You fight now Las Vegas, Nevada by way of Stargent.
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  Let's go.
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  It is Cheyenne.
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  Years ago.
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  So
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  That's so cool.
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  Been yeah.
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  Hey.
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  This is Bubba Starts with the Scene Project, Scene Project Sports Network.
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  I am here with the pride of South Dakota here at the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship,
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  Shyanna Bentlev.
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  Shyanna, thanks for coming on the show.
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  Thanks for having me.
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  This is freaking amazing.
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  Right?
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  Yeah.
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  I'm excited.
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  Did you ever dream working rally as a kid that you would be here fighting center stage at the
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  Sturgis Buffalo Chip?
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  Nope.
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  I never thought that this would be a thing, so I'm excited that it is, though.
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  Well, and not just a thing, you know, newer to the Buffalo Chip.
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  Right?
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  I know this is probably the at the second year, correct, that the Yep.
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  BKFC has been out here.
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  But new for you too.
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  Right?
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  I mean, are you relatively new to the fighting game as well, or has this been something that's
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  a passion for you?
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  Your whole life is you know?
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  Not quite a whole life, but I started fighting about seven years ago.
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  So I started in MMA, developed into boxing, which turned into bare knuckles.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Found a promotion that believes in you, you can just go out there and and do what you wanna do,
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  which is beat the hell out of people.
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  Yep.
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  Yep.
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  It's a fun it's a fun fashion to have.
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  You guys get to see the the glam and the glory of but it takes a lot behind the scenes to
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  Yeah.
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  Make it happen, and I think that's probably my favorite part of it.
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  Well and I was blessed.
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  You kinda told me where where you were at on the complex here doing your pre fight meetings,
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  and I got to kinda sneak in the back and to see it all taking place and to realize what a large
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  production this is.
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  Right?
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  It's not just the fighters who have everything invested in it.
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  It's the promoters.
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  It's the medical teams in the background.
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  It's these training teams around the fighters as well.
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  We are big fight fans of yours.
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  Right?
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  But we're relatively new to the fight scene and especially to the behind the scenes stuff.
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  So, yeah, you look at what we have here, and all of our viewers are gonna see it with the
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  content as it comes out.
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  This is the middle of the Surgess Buffalo chip.
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  There's gonna be 50,000 people here to hybrid.
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  Like, there's gonna be a ton of people here for, you know, a South Dakota girl to go out
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  there and do what she's always dreamed of doing.
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  What is it like for you, not just fighting in this league, but fighting here at home in front
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  of your family and friends and and to do this?
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  It's it's it's hard to put into words.
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  It's a you work really hard for it.
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  There's a lot of heart that goes into it as well.
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  It's easy to get choked up about
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  Yeah.
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  That's good.
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  It's emotional.
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  It is.
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  It should be.
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  I can see it in your eyes now.
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  Right?
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  And and the people at home might not feel it.
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  But I think we're gonna see that in the ring tonight too as you're soaking it in.
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  And as that focus comes under you and you get fight ready, it's hard not to think about all
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  those hours spent in the gym and the family that have invested in you as well.
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  Yeah.
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  It's it's not an easy road, this MMA or fighting game No.
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  Whatsoever.
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  No.
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  We all I mean, for the most part, a lot of us, like, leave home.
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  And so I've been gone from South Dakota for two years now.
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  Little coming up on two years.
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  Yeah.
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  And so most of my family's here.
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  I was born and raised here twenty six years of my life.
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  So everything I know was here, and I was like, you know, if I wanna go big with this, leaving
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  home is my best bet and going and adventuring and kinda checking out new places, working with
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  bigger teams.
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  And so that was the that was the hard part was leaving home.
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  I love it.
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  I've had a lot of fun, but I love coming home.
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  Yeah.
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  Well and now you get to do it on the biggest of stages.
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  You got a club that you're training with.
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  Go ahead and shout out your crew and give them the props that they deserve because it it's a
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  lot more than just you showing up here.
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  Oh, absolutely.
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  So I live in Louisiana right now.
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  I have a whole team back there in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
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  And then I also have been training out of Las Vegas at a Bones Adams boxing gym out there.
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  I got a team out there that's been super great in helping me get ready.
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  My coach from Las Vegas is here.
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  My one in Louisiana, his one of our other teammates, she fights UFC.
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  She just fought two weekends ago, and so he's been busy, and we've all been busy going crazy.
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  A lot of them.
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  I have another friend or another fight friend.
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  He's fighting tonight.
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  One of my training partners back home, and so we're all just kinda, like, bouncing around,
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  supporting each other, taking care of each other
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  Yeah.
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  Beating the shit out of each other.
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  Well, and it's wild.
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  And it's a such a small promotion right now that, obviously, you you're gonna work
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  together.
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  You're gonna fight a lot of the same people over a course of time.
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  Yeah.
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  Inevitably, I think that builds, if maybe not friendships, at least camaraderie, mutual
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  respect.
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  You're traveling around on the road together, so there has to be a little bit of that.
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  You can't hate everyone and continue to be successful in the sport.
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  Honestly, like, I never have any bad blood for anybody I fight.
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  I love getting to do it's a blessing that I get to do what I do.
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  I'm able-bodied.
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  I wake up every day able to do something that I love doing.
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  That's a blessing in itself.
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  Yeah.
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  Well, I am just blessed to be here with you to be backstage at the Buffalo Chip.
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  Looking at the ring, you're gonna be in there, going toe to toe and not just, you know, for
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  yourself and for your family, but the whole state of South Dakota.
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  You know, we're behind you, and you've really been pushing that.
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  I'm coming home.
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  Please come out and support me, and I hope that, you can hear us out in the crowd cheering
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  you on.
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  I will.
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  Yeah.
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  There's a lot of people coming tonight, and I'm really excited.
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  Good.
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  Well, Shyanna, thank you so much for being on the show, and good luck tonight.
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  Thank you so much.
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  Kick some butt.
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  Yeah, girl.