Jeremie "Hit Em" Holloway has a chip on his shoulder.

Before the judges’ scores were read after his BKFC debut against Will Santiago in Albuquerque, NM at BKFC 48 in August, Holloway was sure he’d done enough to secure the win over the hometown favorite. Holloway won four of the five rounds, he thought, so the decision should be simple. Instead, the judges called it a draw.

A lot of fighters would get discouraged in that position, but that wasn’t the case for the debuting Holloway.

“It was more encouraging than discouraging,” the Bellator MMA vet says on the eve of his return to the Squared Circle. “That fight showed me that I was on the right path, but also that I had a lot to go back and work on, so I could get back in the gym and sharpen my skills.

“We just put that energy into this camp, and that’s what’s fueled me for the last six or seven weeks, man.”

Holloway returns to action against Cameron VanCamp at BKFC 52 on Oct. 20 in Columbia, SC, LIVE on The BKFC App. The heavy-handed VanCamp enters the BKFC Squared Circle for the first time after a run with the UFC.

With all due respect to the judges on fight night in Columbia, Holloway says they won’t be necessary when it’s time for him and VanCamp to knuckle up.

“This is the platform where we throw hands. Nobody is gonna be grappling or wrestling,” he says. “He’s going to get hit; it’s just a matter of time.”

Now that Holloway has his feet wet in the Squared Circle, he has big goals for the next 12 months.

“Within a year, I want to be in title contention, if not already the champ.”