Tommy Strydom has made a name for himself in the local community, both as a hardworking member of Aschoff Farms, and a kind face around town. But while he’s been making a name for himself locally, he’s also been working on building his name globally in the Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championships (BKFC).
Strydom came to America from South Africa nearly five years ago in search of a better life and future for his son and mother, who still reside in South Africa. Strydom came to the United States as one of approximately 5,000 South Africans that are taking part in the H2-A Visa program. The visa allows farmers in America to bring over foreign workers to help them seasonally or for a temporary amount of time. Strydom is a part of the seasonal workers and finds himself in Plainview roughly nine months out of the year, usually only heading back home to South Africa between the months of November through February.
After working for a few farms around the nation when he first arrived in America as a part of the H2-A visa crew, Strydom finally found a job suited for him at Aschoff Farms in the small community of Plainview. This was approximately three years ago. “I started out working in Arkansas and things just didn’t work out for me there,” Strydom admitted. “Then I moved on, tried a different place working as a member of the harvesting crew and that didn’t work out well either.”
Finally, Strydom ended up at Aschoff Farms, where things clicked on both sides, but Strydom quickly realized that something was missing from his life. After taking the job in fall of 2021, Strydom spoke to the Aschoff’s shortly after about the possibility of returning to his passion, the competitive world of combat sports.
As a six-year-old in South Africa, Strydom began his combat sports career with kickboxing, which seemed innocent enough at the time. “I was a very busy boy,” Strydom recalled. “My mom and dad decided to stick me in extra sports after school just to tire me out. Within the first month or two I developed a love for the sport, and they started to see the potential in me.”
From there, Strydom continued to get into just about every form of combat sport imaginable throughout his high school career and even afterwards. But when it was time to come to the states to farm, he was forced to take some time off. That didn’t last too long, however. After a short discussion with his employers, Strydom received approval from Aschoff and never looked back. Since that moment, Strydom has been working to get his game back on top.
Each day, Strydom begins his day at 3:00 a.m. to allow himself to train for two hours before clocking in to work for Aschoff Farms. Once he’s clocked in, his workday goes until approximately 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
While this lifestyle sounds crazy from some people’s perspective, Strydom’s focus on his mother and his son back in South Africa, which helps keep him going. “I’ve got my sister and some aunts and uncles and cousins,” Strydom said. “But my main focus is my son and my mom, that’s what I focus on.”
Strydom has had plenty of motivation as he continues to work for his dreams in the BKFC, and although he was forced to take some time off of combat sports when first coming to America, he’s sitting in a solid position to make a name for himself globally. “I was ring-rusted for about four years before coming back (into combat sports),” Strydom said. “Then one day I just decided that I was going to fight for my family and for my Lord, Jesus Christ. It was right after my dad had passed away. I wanted to fight for Jesus, my dad, and then for my mom and son to offer them a better life.”
Despite the hardships and adversity that he’s faced, the bareknuckle brawler is currently 3-0 in the BKFC since making his in-ring debut and is coming off of an electric win in Omaha over Corey Roberts on Friday, May 17.
While things are going in the direction Strydom was hoping for, there’s still things that he struggles with. The main struggle is being away from his son for so many months out of the year. “This is going on four years now that I’ve missed my son’s birthday,” he said. “I’ve missed sports, his schooling, and pretty much just everything. That’s a very tough deal.” But Strydom does find some hope and comfort in the fact that he truly believes in what he’s doing.
“Sometimes the Lord puts you on a path that you need to and fight to provide for the ones you love,” Strydom said. “I do have fear that something will happen to my family while I’m gone. But, while South Africa is a beautiful country, with beautiful people, there’s just not working opportunities there like there is here.” As Strydom continues to keep his nose on the grindstone for Aschoff Farms to provide for the ones he loves, he’s still continuing to chase his dream in the BKFC ring. Strydom is hoping to have his next fight sometime around August, and this time, he’s hoping for a shot at the title.
“My main goal right now (in BKFC) is to climb the top of the ladder and prove to South Africa, to my mom, my son, and my dad that I was, and I will always be the best,” he stated. “In fact, I’m going down to Florida to watch the (BKFC) championship bout this weekend. I want Kai Stewart (the current BKFC featherweight champion) to know that Tommy ‘The Farmer’ is on his way, and faster than whatever they can believe.”
Strydom made sure to make it clear how grateful he is for the Aschoff’s kindness, and what they’ve done for him and the future of his family. “I will always carry Aschoff’s name wherever I go,” he said. “Especially Evan and Jim. But it’s not just about one person. It’s their whole family that gave me the opportunity. So, I will always want people to know who gave me the opportunity. I will always thank them and God for giving me the opportunity to do what I do.”
