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LEHI — Utah’s Dan Gardner runs a lot of numbers every day during his day job. But for the chief sales officer for a local supplements company, age is one of those numbers he hopes to crunch this weekend. That’s when Gardner, who had a brief professional fighting career in mixed martial arts nearly 13 […]
LEHI — Utah’s Dan Gardner runs a lot of numbers every day during his day job.
But for the chief sales officer for a local supplements company, age is one of those numbers he hopes to crunch this weekend.
That’s when Gardner, who had a brief professional fighting career in mixed martial arts nearly 13 years ago, will attempt something of a comeback at 41 years old when the former state champion wrestler and father of three makes his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship debut May 10 during BKFC 74 at the Maverik Center.
He’ll fight fellow BKFC debutante Shane Fichter in a light heavyweight bout (185 pounds) on a pay-per-view card headlined by Mike Richman and Josh Dyer. Fellow Utah resident Ben Moa, who lives and trains in Ogden, will face Bobby Brents on the same card.
But Gardner, who excelled at power lifting and jiujitsu during his MMA career, will be stepping into the “square circle” as a novice while fighting in front of his wife and three children for the first time at BKFC 74.
Where did such a comeback begin? It wasn’t from an overwhelming desire to prove his mettle or smash his face in a new fight discipline. It came in part from his brother and boss at Orem-based Bucked Up, a title sponsor of the BKFC.
Gardner still works at Bucked Up during the day, training at the company’s gym every morning, working his full shift, and then working out with local MMA legend Clay “Cassius” Collard at his gym in Lehi in the evenings. Getting Bucked Up CEO Ryan Gardner to use the company gym was easy.
Less so was convincing his wife to let him take a swing at a comeback.
“At first she said, ‘heck no; he’s already ugly enough,'” the younger Gardner joked. “But after she saw how I am when I get passionate for something, it’s hard to tell me no. And she told me to jump in, full feet.
“Then there was an opportunity to do it here in Utah, in front of my hometown,” he added. “I knew I had to get in there.”
Gardner fought professionally six times in his early years, when he earned his nickname “DJ Dan” by working a side gig as a DJ at local college parties.
But his last fight was more than a dozen years ago — and in a discipline that he admits is “a totally different game” than BKFC.
The bare-knuckle boxing promotion was founded by David Feldman in 2018 and turned the first legal “dirty boxing” event in the United States since 1889 at a hockey rink in Cheyenne, Wyoming, into the estimated $400 million business it is today.
“In MMA, I felt comfortable and confident because I knew I could always take them down,” Gardner said. “In this one, it’s anybody’s game; it just takes one hit. … My game plan here is, how well can I defend myself? I’ve got short arms, so I’ve really got to work my strategy before they can work theirs.”
Enter Collard, the 32-year-old veteran of the Professional Fighters League and local legend from Castle Dale. Collard has fought in a variety of styles since his first bout two weeks removed from his 18th birthday.
And the 155-pound featherweight thinks Gardner has what it takes to compete in BKFC.
“As soon as Dan decided to take this fight, he was all in,” said Collard, who will be in Gardner’s corner Saturday night. “He’s dieting, and he’s doing everything he’s supposed to in order to be a good bare-knuckled fighter. It’s all about his dedication and his preparation.”
Without revealing too much of the team’s game plan, Collard said the fighter plans to “go in there and get it done early” as a first-timer.
“Bare-knuckle boxing is just dirty boxing,” Collard noted. “As long as you’re in a clinch and have one hand free to punch, you can keep fighting. It isn’t until a clinch is locked up that they are going to break you up and reset you.”
Beyond the fight, Gardner hopes his return to the ring can inspire others — at least his wife and children, who never saw him fight during his initial pro run.
If nothing else comes from Saturday, it’s his hope that his kids can accomplish anything with hard work and the right mindset — even fighting at 41.
“We get complacent, and we tell ourselves that we’re old. But that’s just a mindset,” said Gardner.
“I’ve had injuries now, and it’s a lot harder to recover,” he added. “But what I want to show everybody is that, if you want to do something and can put your mind to it, you can achieve it. It doesn’t matter what the goal is.”
Tickets are available at bkfc.com and Ticketmaster, and fans can use the promo code “DJ DAN” to get 25% off.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Sports
Oregon female athletes step down from medal podium next to trans competitor
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A pair of girls’ track and field athletes did not stand on the medal podium alongside a transgender athlete for high jump at the Oregon state championship on Saturday night. Footage obtained by Fox News Digital showed the two high school seniors, Reese Eckard of Sherwood High […]
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A pair of girls’ track and field athletes did not stand on the medal podium alongside a transgender athlete for high jump at the Oregon state championship on Saturday night.
Footage obtained by Fox News Digital showed the two high school seniors, Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School, step down from their respective spots on the podium next to a trans athlete who represented Ida B. Wells High School.
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Eckard, in fourth place, and Anderson, in third, each finished ahead of the trans athlete, who tied for fifth place. But the two females faced the opposite direction as the other competitors received their medals from officials.
The footage then showed an official confront the two young women, and gesture for them to move away. Eckard and Anderson were then seen walking away from the podium and standing off to the side.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Oregon School Activities Association for a response.
The trans athlete previously competed in the boys’ category in 2023 and 2024, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Eckard and Anderson were praised for not standing on the podium on social media, and were even shouted out by prominent conservative activist Riley Gaines.
CALIFORNIA TOWN RALLIES BEHIND TRUMP AS IT HOSTS TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP AMID TRANS ATHLETE CONTROVERSY
“We didn’t refuse to stand on the podium out of hate. We did it because someone has to say this isn’t right. In order to protect the integrity and fairness of girls sports we must stand up for what is right,” Anderson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Girls and women making symbolic gestures to protest trans inclusion in sports has become a growing trend in 2025.
On May 17 at a California track and field sectional final, Reese Hogan of Crean Lutheran High School stepped from the second-place spot onto the first-place medal podium after her trans opponent, AB Hernandez stepped down from it. Hogan’s stunt was lauded on social media by Gaines and others.
On April 2, footage of women’s fencer Stephanie Turner kneeling to protest a trans opponent at a competition in Maryland, and subsequently getting punished for it, went viral and ignited global awareness and scrutiny against USA Fencing.
Oregon is one of many Democratic-controlled states that saw transgender athletes compete in girls’ track and field championships this weekend, with other highly-publicized incidents taking place in California, Washington, Maine and Minnesota.
The America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a nonpartisan research institute, filed a Title IX discrimination complaint against Oregon for its laws that allow biological males to compete in girls’ sports on May 27.
The complaint was filed to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, which has already launched Title IX investigations against the high school sports leagues in California, Minnesota, Maine and Massachusetts.
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Oregon girls’ track and field athletes Reese Eckard and Alexa Anderson don’t stand on a medal podium next to a trans opponent. (Courtesy of America First Policy Institute)
“Every girl deserves a fair shot – on the field, on the podium, and in life,” said Jessica Hart Steinmann, AFPI’s executive general counsel and vice chair of the Center for Litigation, in a statement.
“When state institutions knowingly force young women to compete against biological males, they’re violating federal law and sending a devastating message to female athletes across the country.”
President Donald Trump signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order on Feb. 5 and his administration has made combating the continued enabling of trans athletes in girls’ sports by Democratic states a priority.
The U.S. Department of Justice has already launched a lawsuit against Maine for its defiance of Trump’s executive order, and the president suggested on Tuesday that federal funding pauses could be coming against California amid the situation involving Hernandez.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Sports
13 Bruins qualify for national championshps at NCAA West Regionals
Winning at regionals is an accomplishment. But it’s just the beginning, serving as the first stepping stone to potentially capturing a national title. UCLA track and field competed in the NCAA West Regional at Texas A&M’s E.B Cushing Stadium in College Station, Texas, from Wednesday to Saturday. Thirteen Bruins qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track […]
Winning at regionals is an accomplishment.
But it’s just the beginning, serving as the first stepping stone to potentially capturing a national title.
UCLA track and field competed in the NCAA West Regional at Texas A&M’s E.B Cushing Stadium in College Station, Texas, from Wednesday to Saturday. Thirteen Bruins qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as individuals, while both the 4×100- and 4×400-meter relay teams advanced on the women’s side.
The women’s 4×400-meter relay squad finished out the meet Saturday with a season-best 3:28.18 mark. UCLA trailed Texas A&M the entire race, but junior Naomi Johnson closed out the race with a team-best 51.43 split to send the squad to second in its heat and fourth overall.
On Friday, the men’s 4×400-meter relay squad placed dead last with a 22nd place finish in a time of 3:16.00. Junior Zaire Waring, who ran the second leg for UCLA, appeared to sustain an injury after the first 100 meters of his race as his stride quickly turned into a limp.
Waring pulled through with a 51.10 second split, the slowest leg of any competitor in the field, but still managed to finish despite his apparent pain during the majority of the race.
Despite missing out on qualification with the relay, sophomore Gabriel Clement II punched his ticket to Eugene, Oregon, after posting a personal best 46.75 to place third in the first heat of the 400-meter dash.
Juniors Michael Pinckney and Tamaal Myers were the other national qualifiers on the men’s side. Pinckney punched his ticket with a fourth-place finish in the discus event after throwing a personal-best 60.88 meters.
The Queens, New York, local tossed another personal best mark in Wednesday’s hammer throw, opening the meet with a 64.91 meter throw to place 15th.
On the women’s side, 10 Bruins recorded national championship-qualfiying performances. Graduate students Ka’Leila Abrille and Katerina Adamiec earned their spots after placing first and seventh, respectively, in the pole vault competition, clearing the 4.42 meter mark – the third best jump in program history.
Abrille took home the regional title despite the top six competitors matching her mark clearing all four heights on her first attempt. While both recorded personal bests, Adamiec’s career bests on her third and four jumps, shattering her previous record by .14 meters.
The women’s team racked up four top-10 finishes in the field events, with senior Sydney Johnson qualifying for nationals in the heptathlon as well as the long jump.
Senior Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck placed second overall in the 100-meter hurdles after posting a career-best 12.82 second mark in the second heat. Alongside Ndjip-Nyemeck’s victory, freshman Celeste Polzonetti earned her first ticket to the national championships after placing third in the same heat – and seventh overall – with a personal-best 13.08 time.
Another pair of Bruins in sophomore Taylor Snaer and Johnson qualified in the 200-meter dash after placing eighth and 12th, respectively. Snaer automatically qualified with a third-place finish while recording a personal-best 22.64 mark in the first heat. Johnson snagged a nationals spot after finishing 12th overall with a 22.94 mark.
With the first round of the 2025 Outdoor Track and Field Championships complete, UCLA will shift its focus to the national championships from June 11 to June 14 at Hayward Field.
And with one less Bruin headed to Eugene this year compared to 2024, the pressure to win seems stronger than ever.
Sports
State of Steeple: 5 steeplechase athletes from Utah qualify for NCAA outdoor championships
SALT LAKE CITY — As is becoming frequent, the state of Utah will be well represented in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at next week’s NCAA outdoor track and field national championships in Eugene, Oregon. The list of five athletes from the Beehive State who qualified for the national meet beginning June 11 includes James Corrigan, the […]
SALT LAKE CITY — As is becoming frequent, the state of Utah will be well represented in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at next week’s NCAA outdoor track and field national championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The list of five athletes from the Beehive State who qualified for the national meet beginning June 11 includes James Corrigan, the U.S. Olympian who also holds Big 12 records in the steeplechase and 5,000 meters.
The junior from Los Angeles who set a school record at the Penn Relays Summer Showcase to meet the qualifying standard for the Paris Summer Games last year remained undefeated in his top event by finishing first in his heat in facility-record time of 8 minutes, 31.79 seconds at Texas A&M’s E.B. Cushing Stadium in College Station, Texas.
He’ll join BYU distance teammates Joey Nokes and Creed Thompson, who qualified in the 10,000 meters, and Luke Grundvig, who qualified in the 5,000 meters Friday evening.
“We had some good things happen and in a meet like this sometimes you have some disappointments,” BYU coach Ed Eyestone said. “I think we got some people through that we knew had a really good chance of scoring at the NCAA meet. James Corrigan looked good winning his heat in the steeplechase. That’s one of the high points. It’s always exciting when you cap things with the 4×400-meter relay and see our team advance to nationals.”
HE’S HEADED BACK TO NATTYS
Winning his heat with a time of 8:31.79, Corrigan punched his steeplechase ticket!
ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/7wxq2TFTpO
— BYU Track & Field/Cross Country (@BYUTFXC) May 30, 2025
Weber State’s Peter Visser was one of three Wildcats vying for a spot in the steeplechase finals through the West regionals in College Station. The junior from Afton, Wyoming, who also qualified for the NCAA cross country championships earned his second finals berth finishing 12th overall in 8:40.17.
Lexy Hallday-Lowry and Taylor Lovell both qualified in the steeplechase for the BYU women’s team, which tied a program record with 10 entries to Track Town, USA. That’s the most since the program first sent 10 entries to the national meet back in 2004.
Former Provo High star Meghan Hunter set a program record with the third-fastest time in NCAA history in the 800 meters in 1:58.95, and North Carolina transfer Carlee Hansen broke the BYU school record in the 1,500 meters in 4:07.64.
Utah Valley’s Ella Hopper broke the school record in the 400-meter hurdle when she finished 17th Friday in 57.73 seconds. Teammate Kelsi Oldroyd broke her own school record in the javelin with a throw of 57.72 meters, becoming the first Utah Valley athlete to qualify for the national meet in the javelin.
The Utah quartet of Megan Rose, Emily Martin, Bailey Kealamkia and Chelsea Amoah became the program’s first 4×100-meter relay team to qualify for nationals in school history, earning the final timed qualifying spot with a school-record time of 43.85.
Former Westlake High standout Shelby Jensen became the first Utah State female athlete to qualify for the national meet since 2019, finishing second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase quarterfinals in 10:00.46.
BYU
- Sami Obad, 400m — 51.29
- Meghan Hunter, 800m — 1:58.95
- Tessa Buswell, 800m — 2:02.54
- Carlee Hansen, 1500m — 4:07.64
- Riley Chamberlain, 1500m — 4:08.42
- Lexy Halladay-Lowry, 3000m steeplechase — 9:23.03
- Taylor Lovell, 3000m steeplechase — 9:42.83
- Jenna Hutchins, 5000m — 15:49.95
- Gretchen Hoekstre, shot put — 16.87m (55-4.25)
- Gretchen Hoekstre, discus — 54.58m (179-1)
- Danny Bryant, shot put — 18.91m (16-11.5)
- Joey Nokes, 10000m — 28:21.04
- Creed Thompson, 10000m — 28:21.52
- James Corrigan, 3000m steeplechase — 8:31.79
- Luke Grundvig, 5000m — 13:34.63
- Eli Hazlett, Josh Taylor, Jonah Heimuli, Trey Jackson; 4x400m relay — 3:03.65
- Jaden Roskelley, decathlon — 8,000 points
- Ben Barton, decathlon — 7,865 points
TWO 1500M TICKETS!!
Hansen and Chamberlain both punched their tickets to Eugene in the 1500M
— BYU Track & Field/Cross Country (@BYUTFXC) May 31, 2025
Southern Utah
- Ajia Hughes, high jump — 1.81m (5-11.25)
Utah
- Megan Rose, Emily Martin, Bailey Kealamakia, Chelsea Amoah; 4x100m relay — 43.85
- McKaylie Caesar, 10000m — 34:15.26
- Morgan Jensen, 10000m — 34:15.28
Utah State
- Shelby Jensen, 3000m steeplechase — 10:00.46
- Logan Hammer, pole vault — 5.42m (17-9.25)
Utah Valley
- Kelsi Oldroyd, javelin — 57.72m (189-4)
- Gavin Stafford, Cameron Franklin, Kade Thompson, Gabe Remy; 4x100m relay — 39.13
Weber State
- Peter Visser, 3000m steeplechase — 8:40.17
Sports
University of Minnesota Athletics
MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Minnesota women’s track and field team has qualified two events to the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships in June at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The Maroon and Gold qualified by finishing in the top 12 of their respective events at the NCAA West Regional at Texas A&M in Bryan-College Station at E.B. […]
Ali Weimer was the first Gopher to punch her ticket to NCAAs, earning her first career bid in the 10,000m in a time of 34:09.14 to finish sixth overall. The Big Ten cross country bronze medalist is the first Gopher to qualify for the NCAA 10,000 final since Megan Hasz finished 20th overall and earned Honorable Mention All-America honors in 2019.
Minnesota had a few individuals fall just short of NCAA Championships qualification. Diarra Sow and Zoie Dundon both finished 13th overall in their respective events. Sow matched her season best in the triple jump with a mark of 13.42m (44-0 1/2) and ended in a tie for 12th but due to Oregon’s Ryann Porter having a better second-best mark, Sow was bumped from the top 12. Dundon’s time of 10:05.41 in the 3000m steeplechase also fell short of returning the sophomore to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
One of the biggest risers of the final month of the season was Dyandra Gray, who punched her first career individual ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Gray qualified in the 400m hurdles with back-to-back lifetime bests at E.B. Cushing Stadium. Since April 30 Gray has posted five different lifetime best performances, capped off by her 56.86 in the NCAA quarterfinals on Saturday night. Gray now sits at No. 3 all-time in Minnesota 400m hurdles history and will look to move up that list at Hayward Field in June. Gray is the first Gopher to qualify for the NCAA Championships 400m hurdles since 2022 when Abigail Schaaffe earned an Honorable Mention All-America honor.
Women’s Qualified Events (Event, Regional Finish, Qualifying Performance)
Ali Weimer – 10000m (6th. 34:09.14)
Dyandra Gray – 400m Hurdles (10th. 56.86)
For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on X.com (Twitter) and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.
Sports
UNT track and field caps outdoor season | Mean Green
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St. Thomas More grad invited to USA Volleyball U23 National Team training
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – A Champaign native could get the chance to play volleyball internationally this summer. Caroline Kerr, a graduate of St. Thomas More, received an invite to train with the 2025 Women’s U23 National Team for the NORCECA U23 Pan American Cup. Advertisement Kerr was an All-American in 2024 as a redshirt sophomore […]
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – A Champaign native could get the chance to play volleyball internationally this summer.
Caroline Kerr, a graduate of St. Thomas More, received an invite to train with the 2025 Women’s U23 National Team for the NORCECA U23 Pan American Cup.
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Kerr was an All-American in 2024 as a redshirt sophomore at the University of Tennessee. She recorded more than 1,000 assists in the season for the second straight year.
She’s one of just 18 athletes invited to the U23 camp in Anaheim, Calif., from July 18-25.
She looks forward to representing Central Illinois on a big stage, as she has been for years with the Vols.
“I think it’s just really cool to be able to wear that with pride,” Kerr said. “Especially in the SEC there’s not too many Champaign, Illinois out there. So I take a lot of pride in it, being from Illinois and being from Champaign, and credit a lot of my success to the training I’ve been lucky enough to have growing up.”
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12 of the 18 athletes will be chosen to represent the United States July 25-August 2 in Leon, Mexico.
Caroline’s younger sister, Addison Kerr, just wrapped up her senior year with the Sabers and is committed to play college volleyball at Southern Illinois.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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