When the spotlight was brightest, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship delivered arguably its best show ever in Philadelphia on Saturday night.
In the main event, Jeremy Stephens pulled the mild upset as he scored a second-round TKO win over hometown hero Eddie Alvarez as the latter’s corner stopped the fight between rounds.
Stephens scored two knockdowns en route to the finish as he looked faster, better conditioned and more powerful than the former UFC champion.
Stephens struggled in MMA at the highest levels of the sport, but he has seemingly found himself in BKFC.
He’s now 3-0 with the promotion and he should be in a position to secure a strong payday in his next fight. Alvarez looks cooked.
He’s been on the losing end of some brutal stoppages and at 41 years old, it’s likely–or at least it probably should be–the end of the road for him as a combat sports athlete.
After the fight, Stephens and BKFC owner Conor McGregor faced off in the middle of the ring. McGregor urged BKFC owner David Feldman to make the date for a fight between the two former UFC fighters who have their own history.
It was an interesting moment, but like every other combat sports contest McGregor is interested in doing, it will likely be blocked by the UFC while he’s under contract. McGregor recently revealed the UFC blocked his attempt to face Logan Paul in an exhibition boxing match in India.
Therefore, it’s unclear why they even bothered to pose. When Feldman mentioned it in the post-event presser, he did it in a way that suggests he isn’t putting much stock in the concept.
In any case, the event was amazing overall and quite honestly, with the energy from the crowd and the fights, they didn’t need McGregor’s push for this one.
As definitive as Stephens’ win over Alvarez was, it looked like a boring unanimous decision compared to some of the other finishes.
Here is a look at all of the results and some highlights of the unbelievable knockouts from the event.
- Jeremy Stephens def. Eddie Alvarez via third-round TKO (5:00)
- Ben Rothwell def. Mick Terrill via first-round KO (0:36)
All former UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell needed was 36 seconds to become the new BKFC heavyweight champion. Take a look at this vicious right cross that won him the title.
- Bec Rawlings def. Taylor Starling via unanimous decision (50-44 x2, 49-45)
- Pat Brady def. Zach Calmus via first-round TKO (0:53)
- John Garbarino def. Apostle Spencer via first-round KO (1:59)
Garbarino ensured he’d have a special evening. After scoring a first-round KO win over Apostle Spencer, Garbarino proposed to his girlfriend in the BKFC ring. She said yes.
- Kaine Tomlinson Jr. def. Pat Sullivan via first-round KO (0:37)
You may never see a nastier KO than this one from Tomlinson Jr. It looked like rag-doll physics in a video game. The Uncrowned’s Ariel Helwani had just one word:
- Steve Banks def. Joey Dawejko via third-round TKO (1:54)
- Brandon Meyer def. Zed Montanez via second-round KO (0:39)
- Travis Thompson def. Zachary Pannell via second-round KO (0:41)
- Phil Caracappa def. Noah Norman via disqualification (R4, 0:40)
- Cody Russell def. Logan Tucker via third-round KO (0:49)
- Itso Babulaidze def. Bryan McDowell via unanimous decision (48-42 x2, 47-43)
