Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship rolls into London’s iconic Wembley Arena this weekend with a fight card that should pique the interests of fans of gloved and ungloved fisticuffs alike. With Bellator superstar Michael Venom Page topping the bill against UFC veteran Mike Perry and a supporting cast that includes former champions from Cage Warriors and BAMMA, this is not your grandad’s bare-knuckle boxing.
The main takeaway first-time viewers will get from a cursory
glance at BKFC is that this is not bare-knuckle boxing in the conventional
sense. The promotion has made significant efforts to carve out a distinct niche
in the prizefighting space, leaning heavily into the world of mixed martial
arts for both inspiration and participants.
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| BKFC London's main event leans heavily into MMA |
Bare-knuckle boxing itself is one of the oldest recorded forms of organised combat, dating back to the Greek Olympics, existing and adapting in various forms to the modern day. The influence on BKFC of the combat sport du jour, MMA, is apparent from the off. For starters their fighting area is the bastard child of a traditional boxing ring and MMA’s multi-angled cage; a circular, high-roped enclosure that facilitates both movement and action.
In addition, clinching in BKFC does not result in an
immediate stalemate; fighters are allowed and encouraged to engage in close
quarters using what in MMA parlance is dubbed ‘dirty boxing’; the ability to manipulate
an opponent’s upper body while delivering short hooks and uppercuts through any
available gaps.
The result is a sport within a sport that BKFC have dubbed
‘bare-knuckle fighting’; where the stars of MMA and BKB throw down under a
modified ruleset that aims to eliminate the dull while accentuating the action
of one of the world’s most ancient disciplines.
MVP vs Mike Perry
This should come as great comfort to one of the night’s
headliners, the UK’s Michael Venom Page; a fighter that has built a career on
his ability to dance around opponents like a cast member of Swan Lake. For someone
as fleet of foot as MVP, the lack of angles in the fighting space is a
gift-wrapped invitation to slide around an opponent and snipe his way to
victory.
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| MVP looking typically relaxed at the BKFC media day |
The man tasked with solving this riddle is UFC veteran Mike Perry, who brings a massive contrast in styles to the contest. A hard-nosed brawler with no concept of a reverse gear, Perry is a banger who relishes a firefight; the antithesis of MVP.
Shorter, more aggressive and with a significant reach
disadvantage, Perry has one option and that’s to find an opening and blitz
looping, overhand haymakers for all he’s worth.
If it works, he might put MVP away in dramatic fashion a
la Douglas Lima in 2019. If it fails, he could be in line for the kind of hellacious
violence that MVP inflicted on ‘Cyborg’ Santos in the same city in 2016.
It’s one of those fights you never knew you needed until you
needed it.
The Undercard
BKFC are stepping into the backyard of the UK’s BKB™, home
of bare-knuckle legend Jimmy Sweeney. The London-based promotion never seemed
to crack the code when it came to international appeal, but this is where BKFC
London steps up to the plate; the bulk of the card is made of fights between
recognisable stars of the domestic combat sports circuit and international
faces that hardcore BKFC fans will be more than familiar with.
It’s a gameplan that bears a striking resemblance the one
adopted by the UFC in the late 00s when they made significant inroads into the
region.
Former Cage Warriors lightweight champion and UFC veteran Chris Fishgold is pencilled in to face BKFC, Cage Warriors, Cage Rage and UCMMA fan favourite Jake Bostwick. Welshman James Lilley, a former BKB™ champion, will knuckle up opposite Tyler Goodjohn, one of the more promising licenced boxers to cross over into the UK bare-knuckle scene.
One of the bigger breakout stars of BKB™, following an acrimonious
split with the promotion Goodjohn has recently relocated to the USA to train
with former opponent and BKFC legend Luis Palomino. With all due respect to the
rest of the card, Goodjohn vs Lilley is the people’s main event at Wembley
Arena.
Vying for that honour is the evening’s co-main, an all but
guaranteed war between bare knuckle favourites Joe Elmore and Connor Tierney. Neither
man has anything resembling a reverse gear and both have promised a blood-bath
and are more often than not good for their word in such matters.
Other notable tilts on the card include a heavyweight
punch-up between Mick Terrill and BKFC mainstay Sam Shewmaker. Terrill will be
competing in the UK for the first time in four and a half years, hoping to
bounce back from his first professional stoppage loss. Shewmaker will likely get
as big a cheer as his domestic opponent, having featured prominently on a
number of BKFC cards with his ‘kill or be killed’ brawling style.
In a preliminary bout, former BAMMA champion and Bellator
veteran Terry Brazier returns to combat sports for the first time in close to
two years against Danny Christie. Largely known as a grappler in the formative
years of his MMA tenure, former special forces soldier Brazier improved his
striking skills with noted boxing coach Russ Abrams toward the
end of his MMA career, and will attempt to carry those attributes over into the
bare knuckle game.
Close followers of the domestic UKMMA landscape will also
recognise such names as David Round, Rob Cunningham and – for better or worse –
Tony Giles making up the thirteen-fight bill.
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| BKFC President David Feldman is gambling on UK success |
BKFC’s UK debut is a gamble, make no mistake about it. Saturday is a big day for Premier League fixtures, PFL have their first show on UK soil in the same city and there’s the not insignificant matter of the long-awaited Anthony Joshua-Oleksandr Usyk rematch. With a projected ring-walk time of 10:30pm, there’s a good chance it’ll clash with MVP vs Perry, unless BKFC get lucky with some quick finishes. There’s also – through no fault of BKFC’s own – a major rail, bus and tube strike in the UK this weekend, which will no doubt impact last minute ticket sales.
There have already been signs that the gamble hasn’t entirely
paid off; Paige VanZant – arguably the most recognisable name on the entire
card – was yanked at the 11th hour and rebooked for an October event
stateside. When asked about the move during Thursday’s pre-fight presser, company
President Dave Feldmen alluded to PVZ being a “needle mover” for BKFC before
moving swiftly on. Commonwealth gold-medalist Jamie Cox also took to social media
recently to note that he had been pulled over a week ago “due to tickets”.
Reading between the lines, the implication is that with
ticket sales likely lower than expected and the Pay-Per-View airing in a
sub-optimal early-afternoon US timeslot, BKFC have had to call a couple of last
minute audibles with the card.
Regardless, particularly for fans of the genre, what remains
is perhaps one of the most stacked offerings in BKFC’s short history. Perry is the
perfect opponent to bring value for money out of MVP, Fishgold, Bostwick,
Brasier and co provide intrigue for the MMA crowd while Lilley, Goodjohn,
Tierney, Elmore, Shewmaker and co will slake the bloodlust of bare-knuckle
purists.
It’s a card that the BKFC faithful should definitely check
out, and an easy recommendation for first-timers looking to dip their toe into
the world of bare knuckle boxing.
All the action at BKFC London goes down this Saturday from
6pm UK (1pm EST) with an hour of free prelims, while the remainder of the card
is available internationally via Fite, or BareKnuckleTV from 7pm.
All images credit: BKFC
Excellent write up
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