Miles McDonald vs Kendrick Latchman
Arguably the most dominant performance of the night, Kendrick Latchman was overall superior to the experienced MMA fighter Miles McDonald, looking impressive fighting a very technical fight. McDonald had no answers to Latchman’s sharp boxing and after a dominant first round, Latchman took his opponent into deep waters, terminating the fight with a beautiful body shot sending McDonald to the ground and earning a decisive 2nd round TKO victory.
Jon Hollis vs Fred Pierce
‘The Bus Driver’ Jon Hollis faced ‘The Bare Knuckle Cowboy’ for a quick bout, which ended in a first round KO. Pierce had some pressure coming into this fight on a 0-3 record, but he was able to overcome the pressure and finally tasted victory. With a dominant performance and a beautiful K.O over Salinas local fan favorite Hollis, Fred Pierce earned his first win inside the ring. The look on his face after the bout didn’t lie, he was happy and relieved. We hope to see both warriors back in action soon!
LJ Hermreck vs Rowdy Akers
Crazy fight! Rowdy Akers started the bout at 200mph, chasing and attacking Hermreck. Big props to Hermerck for keeping his composure, surviving the early brutal throw of hands from Akers and earning a beautiful KO. Akers’ eyes; not so beautiful. Hermreck was patient, he didn’t fall for Akers’ game plan to end the fight quickly, which seems to have been a bad strategy since he gassed out so fast. Hermreck was able to get some punches in while being attacked, swelling Akers’ right eye shut. A beautiful uppercut, probably to the already shut right eye terminated the fight; Hermreck having his arms raised, earning a 1st round KO!
Jack Freriks vs Antonio Hernandez
My favorite fight of the night, these two young men put on a super show! Both guys are very talented and displayed a technical bare knuckle boxing fight. Hernandez took the fight on very short notice, on the other hand Freriks had his opponents changed twice before facing Hernandez. Both fighters had a good start to the fight, Hernandez winning two close rounds, both fighters displaying great boxing skills and Freriks proving he has a solid chin. Hernandez grew even more through the fight, connected more shots and used the jabb the efficiently and at the end of the third round was able to pressure Freriks against the ropes and get good combinations in. Both fighters trash talked during the bout and made the fight personal, Hernandez clearly getting into Frerik’s head. The judges scored the bout 4 rounds to 1, Hernandez who walked away with a win and a brilliant performance.
Isaac Doolittle vs Brandon Johnson
This was a very clinched fight, Doolittle showing far superiority in that aspect of bare knuckle fighting. Whether that was his strategy or not, the fight seemed to naturally go into the clinch and Doolittle always getting the best shots in, eventually knocking down Johnson. Johnson displayed a good jab and good cardio but it wasn’t enough to keep Doolittle away from the clinch. Johnson was not liking the clinch game as he looked away when they engaged; Doolittle showed lots of strength in those short inside punches and earned himself the W with all 5 judges scoring the rounds in his favor.
Austin Levine vs Bill Dieckhoff
There is no such thing as an easy fight but this was, lets say, the easiest fight of the night. Bill Dieckhoff’s look on his face just didn’t lie, the man came in focused. Through the weigh-ins, walk-outs, face-offs, he kept the same straight face. Inside the ring things came easy as Ausin Levine was just not well prepared for the bout. He looked out of shape, tired, and after just the first minute was knocked out. One minute and fifty four seconds was all it took Dieckhoff to walk away victorious.
Dave Rickels vs Clifford Wright
Another exciting fight with plenty of expectations as Bellator veteran Dave Rickels stepped into the BKFC ring for the first time. A huge fan favorite, Rickels electrified the crowd with 5 exciting rounds. Wright also looked pretty good, although he didn’t impose much danger to Rickels, he did hold his own but it was not enough to earn him a single round. Rickels’ experience, athleticism and confidence were clear as he walked forward and threw many shots at Wright to earn his first BKFC W by unanimous decision!
Nico Hernandez vs Chancey Wilson
There were plenty of expectations coming into this fight from many different people including fans, the KnuckleKnockouts team, the boxing world, and the BKFC organization. This was a fight between an MMA guy vs a boxer - this is what’s going to make BKFC great. As president David Feldman calls it “The Great Equalizer”, finally boxers and mma fighters can settle their scores fair and square.
Nico’s threw a quick jab right at the start of the fight cutting Wilson open, sending him a clear message of who was the superior boxer. However, that didn't stop Wilson from continuing to come forward and looking for the knockout. The rounds were very similar, Chancey coming forward looking for power shots and Nico playing the boxing game, keeping distance, using the jab, great footwork and ultimately connecting the better shots. Chancey however had the ‘best’ punch of the night connecting with a beautiful left-overhook, in the center of the ring, splitting Nico’s skin. Unfortunately the fight came to an end before the beginning of the 5th round, as Chancey puked into the bucket, forcing the ref to call it a fight. Very unfortunate because it was rumored that Nico had both hands hurt, maybe broken, and it would have been awesome to see how he would’ve reacted to these circumstances coming into the 5th and final round.
Joey Beltran vs Marcel Stamps
Joey Beltran the defending champion had all the pressure on him, he was the champion and the bigger man, fighting an extremely courageous Marcel Stamps, who stepped up to heavyweight searching for gold; Stamps came in strong in the first three rounds, winning them all. Joey Beltran on the other hand did not look much worried, fighting a patient fight, walking forward and allowing his opponent to attack, Beltran knew when it was time for business. In the fourth round Stamps was knocked down and claimed he was hit in the back of the head. The referee was kind to give Stamps some recovery time. It was not enough time to keep Joey from finishing the fight whatsoever. With a sequence of heavy punches, Joey knocked down Stamps who was not able to come back into the fight due to a broken hand. Beltran winning the fight in the fourth round and walking away with the gold!
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