Former WBA boxing champion Austin Trout squared off with UFC veteran Diego Sanchez on Fri., Feb. 17, 2023 at the BKFC: “KnuckleMania 3” bareknuckle event inside Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The first round proved to be a real showcase for Trout. He flurried forward immediately and landed huge shots, prompting the clinch from Sanchez. After the two broke apart, Trout stuck his opponent with stiff jabs and continued to target the body. Sanchez managed to land a couple shots in the final minute, but mostly, he swung at air as Trout rolled beneath his swings.
Sanchez was bleeding to begin the second, and walking into early right hands didn’t help matters. After ducking an overhand, however, Sanchez was able to land a couple uppercuts in his best moment yet. Immediately afterward, Trout returned to peppering Sanchez with stiff jabs. By the end of the second, Sanchez’s face was looking pretty torn up.
Sanchez ripped a hard body hook to begin the third round, but Trout answered with some clean left hand connections and yet another check hook. He continued to control range with the jab and right hook, but the pace slowed a bit. All the same, Sanchez couldn’t land clean against Trout’s ducks and rolls.
Three consecutive check hooks landed for Trout to begin the fourth as Sanchez swung wild. When “The Nightmare” off-balanced himself punching, Trout scored with a counter that briefly dropped the former UFC title challenger. Sanchez was still trying to force a scrap when back on his feet, but he was really getting battered, and his face wore the damage. The referee called in a doctor to inspect the many cuts on Sanchez’s face, and the contest was called.
Trout won about as cleanly as expected. He picked Sanchez apart, made him miss, and dropped lots of damaging blows all the while. Though he didn’t score the promised body shot knockout, he did pulverize Sanchez in a very successful showing.
Result: Trout defeats Sanchez via fourth-round doctor stoppage