BKFC continues to bring on intriguing signings and ‘The Soldier of God’ is the latest individual set to drop the gloves inside their squared circle. Yoel Romero was announced as a newly signed athlete for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship which was prominently spotlighted at their recent Champions Summit press event.
The former multi-time title challenger in UFC and Bellator MMA will enter the world of gloveless combat but he was not the only former UFC title challenger that the bare-knuckle fighting organization has enlisted the services of. Thiago Santos was also announced as a new signee at the massive press event leading into the promotion’s BKFC 78 effort in Hollywood, Florida this weekend. Romero and Santos have a bit of a history with one another as the former defeated the latter at the PFL vs. Bellator card by way of a unanimous decision.
The 48-year-old has recently been active on the Dirty Boxing Championship circuit with Romero picking up victories over Duane Crespo and Ras Hylton under the DBX banner.
BKFC also signs an additional pair of UFC veterans
Also at this massive media event that featured a variety of assembled world, European, and UK champions, another pair of UFC fighters were announced as new signees for bare knuckle.
Aspen Ladd will be knuckling up and toeing the line after taking a handful of fights on the Bellator MMA and PFL circuits after her 2022 departure from the UFC. Ladd has tested skills against several former UFC and Bellator champions across multiple weight categories including Kayla Harrison, Julia Budd, Raquel Pennington, and Germaine de Randamie.
Also, former stalwart UFC middleweight Derek Brunson will be stepping into the world of bare-knuckle. Brunson had a lone fight in the PFL smart cage after his UFC tenure ended in 2023 which was a run that saw him fight names like Dricus du Plessis, Darren Till, Israel Adesanya, Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva, and Robert Whittaker to name a few.
All of the aforementioned signees not having debut opponents locked in, as expressed by the organization at the BKFC Champions Summit press conference.
