Bruce Boyington will make the second defense of his New England Fights middleweight title against Jamie Harrison in the main event of “NEF XVII,” slated for April 11 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.

But it won’t be the only fight that occupies his mind that night.

Boyington’s longtime fiancee and soon-to-be wife, Randi Beth Knowles, will make her mixed martial arts debut on the same card, taking on Alex Walker of Lancaster, New Hampshire, in an amateur strawweight battle.

“I’m actually more concerned with my fight,” said Boyington, 10-7 as a professional. “She’s confident, and I am even more so because I see what she’s capable of, and I can compare what she’s doing with what I know other people in other gyms are doing to prepare.”

This will mark the first time a couple has fought on the same NEF card, and it’s believed to be one of the few times it’s been done anywhere given that fighting couples are few in the MMA ranks save for UFC top-10 bantamweights Miesha Tate and Bryan Caraway.

“I don’t think there’s too many,” said Knowles, “and I definitely don’t think there’s many or any that have have been on the same fight card on the same night. It will be exciting for me, and it will be fun for Bruce, too.”

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While Boyington has focused on MMA in recent years and compiled a 10-7 pro record, Knowles has been active in figure competition, a discipline similar to bodybuilding.

When Boyington opened a taekwondo studio in Bangor last year, Knowles began training there as well as continuing her fitness training at Young’s MMA.

And that gave Boyington an idea, so without telling Knowles, he contacted NEF co-owner and matchmaker Matt Peterson about the possibility of getting her an MMA bout.

“I did that intentionally because I didn’t want her to feel like she didn’t belong or wasn’t ready,” he said. “But if I had her convinced that everybody else wanted her to do it and it was a done deal and she wanted to do it, I figured she’d be all for it, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Knowles did jump at the opportunity and soon began gearing her training more toward MMA.

“I’ve been weight training my whole life and have always been pretty physically fit and active in sports, so I wasn’t really starting from scratch,” she said. “Of course, the training is different with the striking and grappling and jiu-jitsu and pad work, but the nutrition and planning parts of it are the same.”

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Boyington was going to take a hands-on approach to Knowles’ MMA training, but he ultimately opted to leave most of those duties to others.

“Initially the idea was I was going to corner her on the same night I was fighting and get her ready for everything,” he said, “but over the course of the last few months, we’ve been talking with [Young’s MMA co-owner and trainer] Chris Young and my coach about what’s probably best for me, and we decided that I’m going to step back and I’m not going to come out and corner her that night and pretty much let Chris take over.”

Knowles has received additional guidance from Bangor native and UFC strawweight competitor Emily Peters-Kagan, who is slated to be in her corner on fight night.

“I saw her when she was home about a month ago,” said Knowles. “It was a tremendous help for me, and it was a joy to have her expertise around because she has been in the UFC. It was nice to have a female training me. I’ve had other female teammates and that’s been fantastic, but it was a little different having a woman train me.”

Knowles will be matched against a fighter in Walker that like herself will be making her MMA debut.

“In that regard they’re really even and it’s a well-matched fight,” said Boyington. “I just think it helps that Randi’s been a fitness competitor for quite a while so that should give her a little bit of an edge competitively.

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“Randi would train every second of the day if she could. She just loves the grind so much,” he said.

One of the more challenging aspects of Boyington and Knowles training for bouts at the same time has been juggling family duties with their children.

“It’s very crazy in our household,” said Knowles, “but we have our schedules pretty much worked out, and we try to accommodate each other as far as who’s going to train at what time and who needs what training when.”

And it only figures to get crazier during the coming months. The couple is set to get married May 16.

“It’s about a month after the fight, so hopefully I won’t have too much bruising on my face,” Knowles joked.

21 bouts slated for NEF XVII

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Boyington’s middleweight title defense will highlight a 21-bout NEF XVII card announced this week.

The April 11 show is slated to feature eight professional bouts and 13 amateur contests.

The Boyington-Harrison battle was made in the aftermath of their last fights at NEF XV in November, when Boyington made a successful first title defense against Jesse Erickson while Harrison (5-1) scored a quick submission victory over Tollison Lewis.

The evening’s co-main event will be a welterweight bout between Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jarod “Last Minute” Lawton (4-1) and Bellator veteran Dennis “The Menace” Olson (12-7).

“Shatterproof 2.0? Derek Shorey (1-1), fresh from signing a new multifight contract with NEF, will face John “First Class” Raio (2-6) for the third time in their careers. Each has one victory in their previous two battles, with the rubber match to be fought at a catchweight of 150 pounds.

Also scheduled is a professional women’s bout between Kaline “The Dark Angel” Medeiros (3-4) and undefeated Calie “The Honey Badger” Cutler (3-0).


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