In the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation 1 main event, Chris Leben returned to action for the first time since 2013, stopping Phil Baroni. Also on the card, short-notice replacement Dakota Cochrane knocked out former UFC champ Johny Hendricks.
World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF)’s inaugural event on Friday night in Casper, Wyoming had a little bit of everything.
In the main event, former UFC middleweight Chris Leben returned to action for the first time since 2013 and defeated fellow MMA veteran Phil Baroni by first-round TKO at light heavyweight. Leben vs. Baroni was, unsurprisingly, a bizarre match to say the least. Baroni appeared to shoot for multiple takedowns throughout the fight, which lasted only a little over a minute and a half.
Baroni had fallen to the canvas once in the fight already just a few seconds earlier, but then Leben dropped him for good with a left hook. Baroni fell face first into the mat and the referee called the fight off.
Chris Leben vs. Phil Baroni #WBKFF pic.twitter.com/t4T7PyX139
— ZombieProphet (@GIFsZP) November 10, 2018
In the co-headliner, Dakota Cochrane upset former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks in a middleweight affair. Cochrane stepped up on two day’s notice after Brennan Ward removed himself from the card due to a contract dispute with WBKFF.
Hendricks was aggressive as soon as the opening bell sounded, stalking Cochrane. “Bigg Rigg” landed a couple good shots, but Cochrane clipped him midway through the first round opening up a cut under his eye. Not much else happened in the opening frame.
Early in the second round, Cochrane stunned and dropped Hendricks with a right hand and followed up with a brief barrage of punches before the referee intervened, upsetting the former UFC titleholder.
Johny Hendricks vs. Dakota Cochrane #WBKFF KO’d pic.twitter.com/IrFgR3Wjgg
— ZombieProphet (@GIFsZP) November 10, 2018
Also on the card, UFC veteran Robbie Peralta and Leon Mynhardt both advanced to the second round of the lightweight tournament with wins over Jay Cucciniello and Nick Gonzalez, respectively. The Ultimate Fighter alum Julian Lane and former UFC lightweight Isaac Vallie-Flagg were also victorious.
Check out the results below:
Main card — Fite TV iPPV (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT)
Chris Leben def. Phil Baroni via TKO at 1:19 of Round 1
Dakota Cochrane def. Johny Hendricks via Knockout at :21 of Round 2
Julian Lane def. Joey Angelo via split decision (47-48, 49-46, 49-46)
Christina Marks def. Jasmine Clarkson via TKO at 1:54 of Round 2
Preliminary card — Fite TV (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Robbie Peralta def. Jay Cucciniello via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)
Leon Mynhardt def. Nick Gonzalez via TKO at :56 of Round 2
Josh Neer def. Mike Aldrete via TKO at 2:00 of Round 3
Joey Munoz def. Marcelo Alfaya via majority decision (47-47, 48-47, 48-46)
Isaac Vallie-Flagg def. Cory Simpson via TKO at 1:10 of Round 2
Juan Torres def. CJ Leveque via TKO at 1:33 of Round 1
Jeff Chiffens def. Fred Pierce via TKO at 1:04 of Round 1