This past Saturday was the second time David Feldman has brought the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships Signature Event Knucklemainia back to his hometown of Philadelphia. Last January, they set both BKFC and Venue (for Combat Sports) attendance records in the first sanctioned Bare-Knuckle event which Knucklemainia 6 rebroke with 18,000-plus fans attending this weekend’s event.
We saw for the second year in a row a new BKFC Heavyweight Champion crowned as 47-year-old former UFC Champion Andrei Arlovski defeated now-former BKFC champion Ben Rothwell via Doctor’s Stoppage
BKFC Cruiserweight Champion Lorenzo “Juggernaut” Hunt KO’d current BKFC Middleweight Champion David “Redneck” Mundell, who was a late replacement for UFC veteran Yoel Romero, who had to pull out of the scheduled bout, and is now arguably BKFC’S # 1 pound-for-pound fighter.
Hometown favorite Johnny “Cannoli” Garbarino TKO’d Kane Tomlinson Jr. in the 5th round in an eventful grudge match that didn’t quite live up to the pre-fight hype but still saw Garbarino soundly run circles around Tomlinson.
Patrick Brady defeated Bear Hill via unanimous decision, with both fighters earning ancillary bonuses from BKFC President David Feldman and Fight of the Night honors.
Patrick Brady also walked out with comedian actor Shane Gillis and after his performance, the soon-to-be 42-year-old combat sports veteran abruptly retired from BKFC after a 3-0 record.
local talent Cody Russell KO Harrison Aiken
Zedekiah Montanez avenged his first round. KO Loss at last year’s Knucklemainia Koing Brandon Meyer in the second round
The most hated man in combat sports, Lex “Grizzly Bear” Ludlow, soundly defeated Zach Calmus via unanimous decision.
Patrick “Irishman” Sullivan unfortunately had another rough night at his Second Knucklemainia. Being stopped via TKO in the second round by MMA legend and combat sports veteran Charles “Felony” Bennett who was 1-23 in his last 24 fights, and his BKFC fight was over five years ago.
UK fighter Ben Bonnor defeats Tony “Loco” Soto for a second time, earning #1 lightweight contender status and a future date with current welterweight champion Austin “No Doubt “Trout for the vacant lightweight championship.
Promotional newcomer Joshua “Preacher man” Oxendine, coming over from BKB Triogon to the BKFC ring, showed no learning curve as his exciting performance earned him a unanimous decision victory over Travis “The Animal” Thompson.
Former title challenger Jade Masson-Wong looked unscathed after laying knuckles on Crystal Pittman en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Former two-time BKFC Champion Mike “The Marine” Richman took home a majority decision over Joe “The Hitman Elmore that saw the former champion dominate the early rounds, dropping Elmore with a nasty body shot, who dusted himself off and gave Richman more than his money’s worth as Elmore punches consistently found their home in the later rounds.
During the weekend and the event, BKFC made several announcements, like BKFC featherweight champion King Kai Stewart would be back in action March 20th in Miami, Florida, against UK champion Nico Gaffie.
The BKFSea Bruise Cruise is a 3-day combat sports festival scheduled for January 22–25, 2027, traveling from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas, aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship. The event features live, on-water bare-knuckle fights and meet-and-greets.
And the BKFC fight club that will debut In early 2026.
Tuesday, April 7, at 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, PA
8:00 PM EST that will feature two different weight classes in an 8-man tournament; in one two-minute round, the winner moves on, and the loser goes home. The competitors will either be new bare-knuckle fighters or have no more than one bare-knuckle fight, with the two winners receiving $100,000 contracts. Also, fighters will not know who the opponents will be until they are walking out to the ring.
