The surprise sensation of this week’s combat sports offerings appears to be the first major bare knuckle boxing fight card sanctioned by an official US state athletic commission in over a century (a 2011 match between Rich Stewart and Bobby Gunn took place on the Yavapai Nation reservation). Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) put on their debut card this weekend, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The event was packed with familiar names from the MMA world, including Ricco Rodriguez, Joey Beltran, Tony Lopez, and recent UFC flyweight competitor Bec Rawlings. Rawlings spoke to MMA Fighting after the event, and gave her breakdown on the differences between fighting with and without gloves.