Bareknuckle fighting isn’t dead quite yet … and the folks at the imaginatively-named Bare Knuckle FC have scrounged together some recognizable names for its inaugural event tonight (Sat., June 2, 2018) inside Cheyenne Ice and Events Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Competitors include Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veterans Ricco Rodriguez, Bec Rawlings, Johnny Bedford and Estevan Payan, as well as bare knuckle veteran Bobby Gunn and Bellator MMA tournament finalist Eric Prindle.
MMAmania will deliver LIVE coverage of the unique combat sports event, starting with the online pay-per-view (PPV) at 9 p.m. ET.
Bear with us if the results section is a bit slapdash before things actually get rolling — the organization’s website isn’t terribly helpful.
Bare Knuckle FC Quick Results:
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Lewis Rumsey — Rodriguez def. Rumsey by unanimous decision (50-45 x2, 48-47)
Tony Lopez vs. Joey Beltran — Beltran def. Lopez by unanimous decision (49-45 x2, 49-46)
Bec Rawlings vs. Alma Garcia — Rawlings def. Garcia by TKO (corner stoppage) at 2:00 of Round Two
Heavyweight tournament quarterfinal: Eric Prindle vs. Sam Shewmaker — Shewmaker def. Prindle by KO at 0:18 of Round One
Bobby Gunn vs. Irineu Beato Costa Jr. — Gunn def. Costa by KO at 0:41 of Round One
Johnny Bedford vs. Nick Mamalis — Bedford def. Mamalis by TKO at 1:41 of Round Two
Reggie Barnett vs. Travis Thompson — Barnett def. Thompson by unanimous decision (50-45 x3)
Heavyweight tournament quarterfinal: Maurice Jackson vs. Dale Sopi — Jackson def. Sopi by TKO at 1:10 of Round One
Estevan Payan vs. Omar Avelar — Payan def. Avelar by KO at 2:00 of Round One
Heavyweight tournament quarterfinal: Arnold Adams def. DJ Linderman by TKO at 2:00 of Round Two
Bare Knuckle FC Round-By-Round Results:
Heavyweight tournament quarterfinal: Ricco Rodriguez vs. Lewis Rumsey
Round one: Early jab from Rodriguez. They’re spending a lot of time out of range. check hook from Rumsey as Rodriguez enters the clinch. Rumsey wades back into the clinch. 10-9 Rodriguez.
Round two: Rodriguez lands an early hook and tries to club away inside. This is pretty bad so far. Rodriguez steps back into the clinch. Rodriguez again re-enters the clinch and they trade dirty boxing. They keep going until the bell. 10-9 Rodriguez.
Round three: Rodriguez wades in with some uppercuts. Back in the clinch. More clinching. Rodriguez really has no intention of actually boxing on the outside for any length of time. Good left hook by Rodriguez, then another and he clinches. 10-9 Rodriguez.
Round four: More clinching shenanigans. Rodriguez lands a good uppercut on the ropes, then clinches again. Left hand and uppercut from Rodriguez, then another clinch. More clinching. Rumsey lands a counter right, eats a looping right. 10-9 Rodriguez.
Round five: Clinch to start. More clinching.Left hook by Rumsey, clinch. That sucked. 10-9 Rumsey.
Final result: Rodriguez def. Rumsey by unanimous decision
Tony Lopez vs. Joey Beltran
Round one: Both men staying tentative early. Lopez lands to the body, eats a 1-2. Lopez body shot met by an uppercut. Combo from Beltran as he wades forward. Dirty boxing. Right hands by Beltran. Beltran again wades in with a combo. Right cross drops Lopez in the waning seconds. 10-8 Beltran.
Round two: Lopez a little busier, gets popped with a right. Lopez jabs the body. Beltran jabs his way into a combo. Overhand right catches Lopez coming in. Lopez leaving his chin out as he advances and Beltran is catching him with rights. Clinch, both chip away. Another counter right, then a series of uppercuts in the clinch. Lopez with an uppercut in return. They trade in the center. 10-9 Beltran.
Round three: Left hook by Beltran, body shot by Lopez. Quick flurry by Beltran. Lopez takes a finger in the eye. Back to the action. Beltran picking up steam, trading with Lopez in the clinch. Lopez sporting a gash over his left eye and Beltran continues to flurry. Ref calls time to look at Lopez’s eye. They get right back to trading, Beltran getting the better of it. Great exchange. 10-9 Beltran.
Round four: Left hook from Beltran to start. Combination upstairs. He’s getting his punches inside of Lopez’s, lands another counter right. Clinch uppercuts by Beltran, Lopez answers with body shots. Beltran chews up the head inside. Lopez lands a hard uppercut in the clinch. Counter right from Beltran around the guard. 1-2 lands. Back to trading in the center of the ring. 10-9 Beltran.
Round five: Beltran finds the mark with a left uppercut. Lopez suddenly cracks him with an uppercut and goes to work with combinations. Body shots by Lopez. Left hook upstairs. Beltran with a quick flurry. Another short uppercut has Beltran staggering back. Beltran throwing back with him. Clinch. Lopez doing damage inside. Beltran refuses to back down. Big left hand by Beltran and it’s back to slugging. Beltran tries to open up on the ropes. 10-9 Lopez.
Final result: Beltran def. Lopez by unanimous decision
Bec Rawlings vs. Alma Garcia:
Round one: Garcia hurling right hands in the early going. Good right lands. Rawlings comes back with a 1-2 and they slug in the center. They go back to the center and trade bombs, both women swinging for the fences. Rawlings pressing forward. Right cross, clinch uppercuts. I think Garcia’s eye is damaged. Rawlings doing damage on the ropes. 10-9 Rawlings.
Round two: Garcia back on the attack, hurling right hands with reckless abandon. Stiff jab knocks Garcia back. Overhand right from Garcia, Rawlings comes back with a combo. Holding and hitting by Rawlings. Jab lands for her. Garcia lands a right hand around the guard. 1-2 from Rawlings. Body shot by Garcia. Rawlings does more damage in the clinch. 10-9 Rawlings.
They stop it in the corner.
Final result: Rawlings def. Garcia by TKO
Heavyweight tournament quarterfinal: Eric Prindle vs. Sam Shewmaker
Round one: Twenty seconds in, Shewmaker knocks Prindle out with the very first punch of the fight, an overhand right.
Final result: Shewmaker def. Prindle by KO
Bobby Gunn vs. Irineu Beato Costa Jr.
Round one: Gunn scores a knockdown inside of ten seconds with a body shot. After Costa stands, Gunn digs another shot to the ribs and the Brazilian goes down like he’s been shot. Sub-minute stoppage for Gunn.
Final result: Gunn def. Costa by KO
Johnny Bedford vs. Nick Mamalis
Round one: Mamalis with an early clinch. Bedford marching forward, taunting. Uppercut from Mamalis, overhand right by Bedford hits harder. Check hook lands for Mamalis. Bedford lands a pair of jabs. Bedford digging to the body, left hook by Mamalis. 10-9 Bedford.
Round two: Bedford lands a hard left hook early. Counter left lands for Mamalis. Bedford rips lefts to the body that appear to hurt Mamalis. Bedford grabs his head and lands a series of right uppercuts that send Mamalis to the mat. He beats the count. Mamalis sporting some cuts on his left eye. Bedford lands left hooks and, as he grabs Mamalis’ head, Mamalis drops to his knees. Ref calls it.
Final result: Bedford def. Mamalis by TKO
Reggie Barnett vs. Travis Thompson
Round one: Barnett comes out swinging, stiff-arming Thompson in the clinch. Another heavy combo. Heavy uppercuts in the clinch. Barnett is tearing him up. Check hook by Barnett, another hard right hand. 1-2 lands for Barnett. Thompson fires a 1-2, eats a bigger one in return. Clinch. Combo from Barnett. Another hard right hook. 10-9 Barnett, borderline 10-8.
Round two: Thompson marches into the clinch, continues to eat combinations. Check right hook, another by Barnett. Thompson ties up and looks to work the body. Left hands from Barnett. One minute to go. Nasty counter uppercut and a right hook connect. Left cross, more combos off the back foot. Thompson lands a left, eats another 1-2. 10-9 Barnett.
Round three: Barnett continuing to batter him. Thompson ducking down, looking to clinch. He takes a finger in the eye. They resume after a little while and Barnett lands two more check hooks. Another. Thompson claims an eye poke. More combos by Barnett. Thompson trying to step in deep with basic punches and getting chewed up by a faster, more technical boxer. Counter 2-3 to end the round. 10-9 Barnett.
Round four: Thompson just has no answer for Barnett, trying fruitless 1-2s as Barnett cracks him at range. Straight lefts piling up. Six-punch combo. They trade right hands. Brief clinch. More counter shots. Jab by Thompson met by a right hook. Good body shot from Barnett. 10-9 Barnett.
Round five: Barnett on the attack this time, seemingly looking for the finish. Thompson loading up for a hail mary, getting pieced up as he does. One minute to go. Nice little right uppercut catches Thompson leaning. Another check hook. Straight left. Right hand on the pivot. 1-2 lands. They throw until the bell. 10-9 Barnett.
Final result: Barnett def. Thompson by unanimous decision
Heavyweight tournament quarterfinal: Maurice Jackson vs. Dale Sopi
Round one: Early clinch. Sopi overhand blocked, Jackson comes back with his jab. Body shot by Sopi. More jabs. Check hook from Jackson, then two right crosses appear to knock Sopi out. Sopi’s held up by the ropes and wakes up in time to get a count, only for Jackson to land some more big shots from the finish.
Final result: Jackson def. Sopi by TKO
Estevan Payan vs. Omar Avelar
Round one: They both come out slugging. Payan marching forward. Overhand right lands for Avelar. Payan continuing to advance. Hard right hand lands for him. Good uppercut. Avelar still slinging the overhand right, but to no success. Payan ties up on the ropes and drills him with his free hand until Avelar goes down. Avelar takes the full count.
Final result: Payan def. Avelar by KO
Heavyweight tournament quarterfinal: Arnold Adams vs. DJ Linderman
Round one: Linderman is heinously out of shape. Adams lands at range early, then digs in right hands inside. Linderman answers a body shot with a straight left. Adams with a heavy straight right. Linderman drops from a short jab a minute in. Adams firing his jab. Linderman with a nice right hand in the clinch. Jab exchange. Adams hits on the break, warned by the ref. 10-8 Adams.
Round two: Linderman wades into the clinch and they trade hard blows inside. Linderman doing better on the inside. Stiff right by Linderman, Adams sneaks an uppercut through and works the body. Clinch. Doctor steps into look at Linderman’s split cheek. Linderman goes back inside and fires left hands. Jabs by Adams, winging right hand. Adams digs a right downstairs. 10-9 Adams.
Doctor stops it between rounds, as Linderman’s eye is borked.
Final result: Adams def. Linderman by TKO (corner stoppage)