Matt (The Hawk) Socholotiuk finds a home in the Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship

Matt (The Hawk) Socholotiuk's sporting journey has had its painful moments. But he found his way.

On Saturday the Montreal-based fighter looks to administer pain of his own as he takes on American Ryan (Ryu) Petersen (1-0-0) in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship's first card of the year, BKFC Fight Night Pechanga, in Temecula, Calif.

The 36-year-old Socholotiuk won his first two BKFC fights, defeating Adam (Clooney) De Freitas last March before beating Nash Diederichs on another BKFC Prospects card in August. Both shows were in Enoch, Alta.

"It's been great," Socholotiuk said in an interview. "BKFC is probably one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, so I'm happy to be happy to be part of their growth and try to give a face to the Canadian side of the BKFC."

The five-foot-nine Socholotiuk, a welterweight who normally fights at 165 pounds, cuts quite a figure. His body is covered with tattoos with 1988, his year of birth, inked on his forehead.

Add the wicked gash over his eye picked up in the win over de Freitas or the cut on his cheek from the Diederichs bout and the bearded Socholotiuk, who wears his long hair in two braids when fighting, looks like a Viking warrior just back from a full day of burning and pillaging.

He survived the nasty cut and an early knockdown to floor de Freitas twice in the second round en route to a third-round TKO.

"Nothing prepares you for when you get hit with no glove," Socholotiuk said. "He hit me and it was like a chair got pulled out. I woke up and I was on the floor. I said 'OK, that can't happen again.'"

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.

Cut by the first punch De Freitas landed, Socholotiuk needed 14 stitches to repair various gashes. He required eight more stitches next time out.

Growing up, Socholotiuk's dream was to play in the CFL. A bruising 265-pound running back for the University of Waterloo Warriors, he looked to be on his way.

"I was like a fire hydrant. I looked like someone's thumb," he said.

But it all came down in a sudden crash in 2010 after a teammate was arrested for possession and trafficking of steroids. The entire Waterloo football team was drug-tested with nine players caught doping, including Socholotiuk.

Socholotiuk, then 21, became the first North American athlete to test positive for human growth hormone.

"We have suspected HGH has been abused by certain athletes in an effort to cheat," Paul Melia, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, said in a statement at the time. "We now have the proof. However, it is alarming and of great concern that its presence has been detected with our young athletes."

Socholotiuk, who also tested positive for testosterone, was ultimately handed a three-year ban. Waterloo suspended its football program for a full season.

It was gut-wrenching at the time, given football was Socholotiuk's raison d'être. But things changed in hindsight.

"I wouldn't change anything because it led me to where I am now. And I learned a lot of valuable lessons," said Socholotiuk.

After wrestling a little in high school, Socholotiuk took up combat sports at 18 or 19 as a way to vary his training for football.

After football, he turned to mixed martial arts, leaving his hometown of Waterford, Ont., for Montreal to train at Tristar Gym, alongside UFC stars George St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald. He went 2-3-0 as a pro fighter from 2012 to 2107 before giving up the sport.

Combining training in so many disciplines with a job — he worked as a bouncer at nightclubs — proved to be too much.

Today, he owns the Glass Jaw Boxing Studio in Montreal, teaching fighters and weekend warriors when not training himself. He used to teach at people's houses but opened the gym in 2021 after building his clientele.

He got into bare-knuckle fighting two years ago at the suggestion of coach Howard Grant, a former Olympian.

"The way bare knuckle felt is the way football felt," said Socholotiuk. "I felt positive, I felt comfortable. (I felt) this is my sport, this is my thing. And it was just a natural transition … It's like a hockey fight, without the skates."

Saturday's main event at the Pechanga Resort Casino pits Russian Evgeny (The Sailor) Kurdanov (4-2-0) meets Puerto Rico's Elvin (El Bandito) Brito (6-5-0). The 39-year-old Brito is ranked fifth among BKFC welterweights.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press