WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Bucked Up chief sales officer Dan Gardner is no stranger to making deals and competing, but Saturday will be a different kind of arena for the enthusiastic salesman.
At 41 years old, Gardner is preparing to make his debut in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship at the Maverik Center.
"The driver behind this whole entire journey is the 'why,'" said Gardner after a training session in Lehi before the big bout. "The real question is why not?"
One reason might be that Gardner has not fought professionally in nearly 13 years, although he did post a 4-2 record back then. That break in the action hasn't deterred him one bit and has helped to encourage him to stay disciplined and leave behind no regrets.
"I want to be the guy that goes out there that actually does it. I want to be the guy that says I'm afraid of this like, 'This is scary, man. This is crazy' but I'm not afraid to face my fears."
MMA fighter and fellow Utah native Clay Collard has stepped up to train Gardner and be in his corner ahead of Saturday's fight.
"I definitely want to be part of this with Dan," said Collard. "Because [of] who he is as a person, he's an amazing person. He cares about people. He's a good father, and I want to support a guy like that because those guys support guys like me."
Gardner has impressed his family and his coworkers as he prepares for this challenge. He wanted to demonstrate to the folks around him that anything worth doing in life was going to be "hard."
He can feel the support at home and as he walks around the halls of Bucked Up, too.
"I'm dialed right now. I've lost 35 pounds, and I feel amazing."
Shane Fichter, who is also making his BKFC debut, will be Gardner's opponent on Saturday at the Maverik Center for BKFC 74. The event will start at 6 p.m.
