With Saturday a little light when it came to combat sports, BKFC 8 was the best bet to get your share of knockdowns and knockouts. If you missed it, here’s the recap.
BKFC 8 featured 11 bouts and 9 (T)KOs took place. Not a bad finishing rate to say the least. The bare-knuckle proceedings went down at Florida State Fairgrounds Entertainment Hall. There were quite a few visceral visuals throughout the night. Over five hundred pounds of humanity entered the ring and chucked knuckles for the top of the marquee prize fight. From top to bottom though, BKFC 8 delivered the goods and offered up something for BKB fans of all stripes. This is your BKFC 8: Silva vs. Gonzaga Recap.
BKFC 8: Silva vs. Gonzaga Recap
Antonio Silva vs. Gabriel Gonzaga……………Silva was bobbing and weaving a bit while Gonzaga looked to get some feints going. Both were looking to force the other to make a move and present an opening. Gonzaga began having some success with the jab and worked the body a bit. Bigfoot looked to move forward at certain points but seemed to whiff at the air. The connectivity wasn’t there.
In the second round, Gonzaga landed a big jab and tagged Bigfoot with a right hand that noticeably staggered Silva a bit earlier. Gonzaga never let him off the hook and the flurry that unfolded afterward crumpled Bigfoot Silva. The fight was waved off with Gonzaga being the declared the victor at 1:50 of the second round.
Jim Alers vs. Julian Lane………………Alers landed strong from out the gate and landed some good punches from the half plum. Lane was having some moments with left straight and body shots but he was cut in the first round. The second frame saw Alers charge forward and get the TKO stoppage 53 seconds in.
Angelo gets the split
Joey Angelo vs. Walber Barros…………Angelo vs Barros was one of the rare decisions on the card but the fans were not shortchanged on the action end of things. Barros was looking to measure out Angelo while Angelo mostly pawed away his lead hand to try to get his own pace going. The second round saw Angelo looking to commit more and he did land a nice step-in left hand.
Barros looked to land a right hand but fell short as the round ended. Angelo began landing good counter punches in the third frame and bloodied Barros a bit. Barros was flicking out the jab more but Angelo would time his entries and tee him up with more significant combos. The fight slowed down in the final round but again, Angelo showed superior ringcraft and greater connectivity. Angelo was awarded a split decision victory.
Nguyen got the win
Dat Nguyen vs. Travis Thompson……………..Thompson was looking to gain an advantage in the clinch during the first frame. This worked to some effectiveness in the early going until Nguyen landed a big uppercut. Nguyen began using his superior ring craft and was boxing up Thompson from a distance.
The story of the fight kept unfurling in this fashion with Thompson looking to apply pressure ad dirty box while Nguyen stayed on the outside and pieced up Thompson. Nguyen began landing at will while not getting hit at all in the final frame en route to scoring the inevitable unanimous decision win.
TKOs abound
Abdiel Velazquez vs. Rick Caruso…………Velasquez dropped Caruso as the decay from the ring bell still reverberated through the venue. Velazquez landed some significant follow-up shots to the head and body while geing another knockdown in the first round. The second round looked like a repeat of the first with Caruso hitting the canvas seconds in. his time he wouldn’t get up though and Velazquez scored the second-round knockout at the eleven-second mark.
Reggie Pena vs. Lorenzo Hunt…………Hunt was swinging with vicious intent early and this resulted in Pena getting cut up solidly. Around his eyes and forehead were covered with plasma. Pena wore the crimson mask but was still looking to pump the jab in the second round.
Hunt was landing some good body shots while being defensively savvy. The bout is eventually halted in the third round at the two-minute mark via doctor stoppage from Pena’s deep cuts.
TKOs abound cont.
Delandy Owen vs. Sheena Star………………Starr looked to set the pace early but Owen was tagging her with some straights. Both punched each other a fair bit in the clinch. Starr stumbled Owen but Delandy came back with a body shot. Owen came out hard in the second round with a high volume approach. Owen is cut but this fired her up even further as she dropped Starr with some big bombs. This resulted in the fight being halted at 1:01 of round two.
Dave Mundell vs. Ronnie Forney…………..Forney got right to it and both began trading big bombs with each other. Forney worked in some close quarters punches then was dropped. Mundell smelled blood and landed some good straights as well as uppercuts. Boh traded punches early in the second round bu a good uppercut would drop Forney for good. Both men got cut up but it was Mundell raising his hand in victory at 1:09 via first-round TKO.
BKFC 8 Prelims
Gustavo Trujillo vs. Robert Morrow………….Trujillo dropped Morrow early on in the bout. Trujillo slept Morrow 35 seconds which elicited a stoppage.
Jared Warren vs. Brian Maxwell………………….Both looked to pump the jab early on but Maxwell quickly put Warren down. Warren responded with big shots of his own and two big lefts put MAxwell to the mat. Another huge left greeted Maxwell when he got up and he was unable to answer the ten count. Warren got the KO win at 1:59 of the opening round.
Zach Juusola vs. Fred Pierce…………..A right hand from Pierce kicked off the proceedings with Juusola looking to play more of an outside game early. Pierce suffered a cut that the doctor checked. Pierce would come back swinging after the brief halting of the action and would drop Juusola to end the round. Juusola would rally back in the second with an unwavering flurry of punches that resulted in a bloodied Pierce crumpling to the canvas. The ref waves off the action with Zach Juusola getting the second-round KO over Fred Pierce 33 seconds in.
