Alves had been all set to take on Phil Baroni, until Baroni failed to provide medicals in a timely fashion, and left the promotion unable to reach him. After losing contact with a main event fighter, Julian Lane of “Let me Bang, Bro!” fame was brought in to welcome Alves to bare knuckle.

The end result was a split decision win for Alves in his debut. It was the co-main event, however, that may have stolen the show. Former UFC fighter and Bellator MMA champ Hector Lombard faced another UFC vet, Kendall Grove — and flattened him in less than two minutes.

https://twitter.com/LilHodko/status/1304618731688124416

While he picked up the win, it was not an easy night at his new office for Thiago “Pitbull” Alves.

Damnn Thiago Alves' eye after the fight pic.twitter.com/REoQgcNZHW

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) September 12, 2020

Full results form the event can be found below

BKFC 12: Alves vs. Lane Results

Thiago Alves def. Julian Lane by split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
Hector Lombard def. Kendall Grove by TKO (punch), Round 1, 1:50
Reggie Barnett Jr def. Abdiel Velazquez by unanimous decision (50-43, 50-43, 50-43)
Christine Ferea def. Calie Cutler by TKO (strikes), Round 2, 1:27
Lorenzo Hunt def. Erick Lozano by KO (punch), Round 3, 1:58
Josh Dyer def. Jarred Warren by TKO (referee stoppage), Round 3, 1:16
Joe Elmore def. Tom Shoaff by unanimous decision (49-42, 49-42, 49-43)
Jarod Grant def. Joshua Bourdreaux by TKO (referee stoppage), Round 2, 1:23
Kenmon Evans def. Robert Washington by KO (punch), Round 1:39
Rusty Crowder def. Jacob Brunelle by unanimous decision (47-45, 47-45, 48-44)

The post BKFC 12: Alves vs. Lane Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

“It was a little bit of a last-minute change. I didn’t know honestly until I saw it online. Guess there was a miscommunication between my management and their management,” Alves told Cageside Press recently. “I literally took a nap then I woke up, looked at Instagram, and saw that my opponent changed.”

The switch-up did little to dissuade Alves and the circumstances actually seem even more favorable for the former UFC welterweight title challenger.

“No worries, I’m prepared. When you’re in shape, when you’re ready, it doesn’t matter who you fight….The good thing about Lane is he has a lot of fights in bare-knuckle boxing. So we’re able to actually come up with a phenomenal strategy to pick him apart and put him away,” explained Alves. “So I actually like this match-up better.”

Alves sees Lane as a hungry, young guy coming to throw down. That being said, he had said that he thinks he will put Lane away in either the third or fourth round.

Farewell UFC, Hello BKFC

The tenured UFC veteran has been stirring up intrigue with this fight and many are curious to see him in a bare-knuckle setting. “Thank god for all my years of MMA. I’ve built up a good platform,” Alves told us. “Everybody knows I always come to fight. Making the switch to bare-knuckle boxing, I’m bringing a little bit of my fanbase.”

Alves continued, adding “You get cut a lot. That’s the reality of it. It’s just bones and knuckles against a face and the flesh is very fragile. I’m excited and it’s a very safe sport. Not really worried about getting cut.”

Having been to BKFC 10 live, Alves was impressed. Years with the UFC and seeing how finely tuned of a machine they are, Alves was impressed with BKFC’s efficiency in promoting their February live event.

Their BKFC 11 return card after the COVID-19 event hiatus was at a reduced capacity and this show too will have a select amount of fans in attendance. “David [Feldman] said it’s going to be about fifty percent capacity but to keep everybody safe probably keep it to 35ish.”

BKFC 12

Thiago Alves has been mixing in different MMA and boxing gloves for his pre-fight preparations. MMA gloves work from the same distance as bare-knuckle for Alves. His first five MMA fights were bare-knuckle in Brazil but it was MMA w/ headbutts.

The aforementioned enthusiasm for Thiago Alves going to BKFC is not just isolated to fight fans but the man himself is thrilled at the prospect of toeing the line.

“It’s a whole new fight for me. I’m used to having so many different tools and so many different other things to worry about. Now its kind of narrowed down a little bit and how I’m going to go about using the tools that I have,” he stated. “It’s fun, man. I’ve always been a huge fan of boxing. I love the sweet science. I’m a striker by trade.”

Alves continued, “It fits me well. This fighting style. The ring being a little bit smaller. The two-minute rounds with one-minute rest. It’s crazy, I never had this ability to just explode and rest, explode and rest. It fits my body type as well.”

The post BKFC 12: Bare Knuckle Fight Style Fits Thiago Alves Well appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I was out for a year and half, almost two years,” he told us recently. “So I’m excited to get back in there. I was a little bit rusty at the beginning but just made adjustments, you know?”

Lombard’s inaugural bare knuckle boxing effort imparted some lessons on the former Bellator and UFC fighter for him to utilize in his sophomore effort there. “I’ve got to be a little bit more aggressive. Bare-knuckle fights, they’re different. You’ve usually got to always be first.”

Lombard has his own brand of wrist wraps that he has patents on, something that has paid dividends for him. Not just in terms of overall monetary gain but in terms of optimally preparing Lombard for the BKFC ring. “When you wear gloves, you’re lying to yourself. You’ve got to get as close to the fight as you can.”

Navigating training for a BKFC bout can be kind of a curious thing at times, and one major facet is in the sparring aspects. A major part of camp for most combat sports but a complex thing to navigate in bare-knuckle boxing. “To prepare to spar bare-knuckle is impossible. You’re going to get cut in training. You cannot prepare bare-knuckle.”

BKFC 12, and Gym Challenges

It’s not just high-level fighters getting in work at Lombard’s gym though. A trash-talking stranger came into the gym during the summer and got worked out. “We addressed this situation right away. As I say, we’re street fighters too. We’re not going to allow any bully to try to bully us on social media. All these clowns that talk a lot of sh*t online, they’re p*ssies. We just smacked them all out and we keep moving forward.”

This co-main event features Lombard against Kendall Grove, a prizefighter with a notable name. That is the kind of matchmaking that Showeather wants to be apart of at this point in his combat career.

“I always want to fight big names. I don’t want to fight a guy who I don’t even know who the f*ck he is. So as long as he’s a big name and has been fighting around for a long time, I’m down for it. I just really hate when some stupid f*ck who has never fought anybody calls me out.”

The post Hector Lombard on Kendall Grove BKFC 12 Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.

The David Feldman-led BKFC is setting a date for its return. The promotion hasn’t held an event since February where former UFC talent Hector Lombard was featured in the main event, however, that will soon change. Despite aiming to originally have a show April 11, then again looking to return on June 20, the date they’ve settled on is in July. July 24, to be exact, in South Florida. The most interesting part? BKFC is expecting to have fans in attendance, and tickets are going on sale soon according to the BKFC Twitter account.

Due to recent updates on Covid-19, BKFC 11 will now be held on JULY 24th in SOUTH FLORIDA with a LIVE ATTENDANCE! We appreciate all the fighters and fans who have stuck with us during the pandemic, we are working hard to bring BKFC back! #KnuckleUp👊 *tix & venue info coming soon pic.twitter.com/32AGnYEpkg

— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) June 12, 2020

It’s worth noting that the promotion also announced a show for the following month as well, as BKFC 12 is scheduled to go down August 21 from Wichita, Kansas. It’s unknown if that event will have any fans present, as the promotion only was able to confirm fans for the July 24 show. The choice is an interesting one, as some sporting promotions such as the UFC aren’t expecting to fans for the remainder of 2020. However, leagues including the NFL are expecting to have limited amounts of spectators in the coming months. It remains to be seen if BKFC will have limited fans in the venue, or what the seating situation will be like.

If the promotion was able to pull off fans at the July 24 event, it would be the first sporting event in the United States with fans since March 11, when the NBA and NCAA held their final basketball games of the season prior to its cancellation, or postponement in the NBA’s case. To find the last combat sports event stateside with fans beyond basketball, the last event would’ve been UFC 248 on March 8.

As of right now, there are currently no bouts announced for BKFC 11 in July or BKFC 12 in August.

The post BKFC 11 Set For July 24 In Florida With Fans appeared first on Cageside Press.