ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Will "The Brown Bomber" Santiago is gearing up for one of the biggest fights of his career. The Brown Bomber (2-0-1) hopes to open 2025 with a huge victory over the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship's 2nd ranked Middleweight, Dakota Cochrane (6-2-0), on February 1 in Connecticut. "I am excited for this one, this one is a little different than the fights that I have had, this is a ranked opponent. I am a big believer that everything happens when it is supposed to happen and I believe that time is now. This is one of those fights that keeps me up at night, I am not saying that the other ones don't, but it has been a while since I have had a fight like this, and that's what I want because I know I am going to give it 100 percent, if not more", said Will Santiago. Training at Jackson and Wink MMA Academy for eight years, Santiago has had professional bouts in MMA and boxing, and was even featured on Dana White's Contender Series. The 41-year-old now believes that this BKFC bout will be huge for his career as it will likely get him a title shot and cement his claim as a BKFC mainstay. Santiago has found a home in bare-knuckle boxing and the Massachusetts native, believes that all the stars are aligning for this bout against Cochrane. "I put it up there with the Contender Series, put it up there with that because I honestly think that once we show up and we show out, it's going to be a new tune for us next year. This fight where it's going to happen is actually two hours from my hometown, so we are pretty much a hometown crowd over there. That alone is an excitement, and that alone is an honor, but not only that it is a week before my birthday", said Santiago. Santiago vs Cochrane will be a main event bout on this BKFC fight card which takes place on February 1 at 5 p.m. It will be shown on the BKFC app.