Bare Knuckle FC returned to action Saturday, with its first card since the untimely passing of Justin Thornton.
That was bound to put a damper on the event, which went back to the familiar playbook of pairing up UFC stars of yesteryear to draw eyeballs. The light heavyweight main event featured Joe Riggs (3-1-1 BK) up against Melvin Guillard (2-5), with Riggs looking to bounce back from a title fight loss against Hector Lombard in his last outing.
The co-main event saw a BKFC veteran up against a promotional newcomer. The bare-knuckle record doesn’t tell the whole tale in this case, as Christine Ferea took on Calista Silgado — the latter of whom, while making her BKFC debut, had 35 bouts as a boxer.
BKFC Fight Night Montana: Riggs vs. Guillard goes down live on Saturday, October 9, 2021 at the First Interstate Arena in Billings, MT. The preliminary card kicks off at 6PM ET — results can be found below.
One fight fell off the card prior to Fight Night: earlier on Saturday, Taylor Starling announced that her fight with Randine Elkholm was off. Elkholm had missed weight by 8lbs Friday, was given a chance to re-weigh on Saturday, and came in at 141lbs for the flyweight fight. She did not pass medicals, according to Starling, as a result of her weight cut.
In the main event, Joe Riggs made short work of Melvin Guillard. The knockout punch sent Guillard halfway out of the ring, hanging between the ropes. Guillard was taken for follow-up medical attention, and sees his bare-knuckle record drop to 2-6. He has not won a fight in BKFC, with his two wins coming under the BKB banner in 2017. Riggs, meanwhile, is now 4-1-1 in bare knuckle.
BKFC Fight Night Montana Results
Joe Riggs def. Melvin Guillard by KO, Round 1, 0:59
Christine Ferea def. Calista Silgado by TKO, Round 3, 1:34
Taylor Starling vs. Randine Elkholm
Lloyd Woodard def. Brett Fields by KO, Round 1, 0:14
Leo Bercier def. Luis Villasenor by KO, Round 2, 1:26
Tom Shoaff def. Josh Wright by TKO, Round 2, 1:25
Bryant Acheson def. Josh Watson by knockout, Round 1, 0:30
Jade Masson-Wong def. Crystal Pittman by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 3, 0:21
Dallas Davison def. JorDan Christensen by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 2, 2:00
Preliminary Card
Sawyer Depee def. James Dennis by TKO, Round 1, 1:01
Kai Stewart def. Darrick Gates by TKO, Round 1, 1:24
