BKFC celebrated its eighth anniversary on Thursday with a night of bare knuckles action at the sold-out Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Broward County, FL welterweight Bryce “Baba Yaga” Henry kept his undefeated record intact when Julian “Let Me Bang” Lane was disqualified in the fourth round. The referee called a stop to the fight 35 seconds into the penultimate round after Lane wrestled Henry to the canvas. The bout was previously paused due to repeated strikes to the back of Henry’s head from Lane, who is from Ohio. Henry is now 7-0 and yet to enter the fifth round in his BKFC career. “Look at his face. I (expletive) his face totally up. Nobody can (expletive) with me. It was easy. He had to cheat to win,” Henry said in his post-fight interview.
Former BKFC welterweight champion Gorjan “GoGo” Slaveski earned a hard-fought, unanimous decision over Jonny “El Toro” Tello. Slaveski sent Tello the canvas twice, leading to the victory across all three judges cards (47-46x2, 48-45). The Macedonia-born product upped his record to 8-1 with the win. The Canadian-born Pattaya, Thailand fighter Tello is now 3-3 in his bare knuckle fighting career. Slaveski called out Darren “The Gorilla” Till in his post-fight interview: “Give me that guy!”
Salt Lake City cruiserweight Mike Jones smashed his way to 3-1 under the BKFC banner with a first-round KO over Stephen “Tomahawk” Townsel. The stoppage came just 56 seconds into the opening frame. That’s now three straight wins for Jones, while the Fort Pierce, FL product Townsel is now 6-5 in his bare knuckle fighting career. Townsel had stopped his last three opponents heading into fight night.
Gee “The Cutman” Perez only needed 44 seconds to stop previously unbeaten Mike “Mighty Mouse” Hansen in their featherweight bout. The Cuban-born Perez logged three knockdowns in the victory, climbing to 7-1 with the win — his second straight victory in BKFC's squared circle. Hansen, who hails from Anaheim, CA, is now 2-1 under the BKFC banner.
Cuban-born Gustavo “El Gladiador” Balart was victorious in his BKFC debut, edging out Alexander “Prince” Gutierrez for the split-decision victory in their flyweight matchup. Two judges scored the fight 49-46 for Balart, and one judge scored it 48-47 for the Lake Elsinore, CA product Gutierrez, who fell to 1-2 in defeat.
Miami lightweight Peter “D2G” Peraza smashed his way to 5-1 under the BKFC banner with a fourth straight stoppage victory at the expense of Ashton “No Chance” Caniglia. Peraza recorded five knockdowns before the fight was called to a stop with 14 seconds left in the second stanza. The Omaha, NE fighter Caniglia is now 1-2 in his BKFC career.
Cuban-born Julio “The Cuban Horse” Perez picked himself up off the canvas and rallied for a 44-second KO victory over Lamont “The KO King” Stafford in cruiserweight action. Perez logged a pair of knockdowns after being dropped early in the fight. Perez is now 4-2 under the BKFC banner. Stafford, who hails from Hobart, OK, is now 1-2 in the squared circle.
Romain “Frenchie” Courcier defeated Eduardo “Las Manos Benditas” Suarez in their meeting of debuting BKFC featherweights. The French-born Miami product Courcier recorded a pair of knockdowns before the fight was stopped with 12 seconds left in the opening round. The Cuban-born Suarez was also making his BKFC debut.
Miami light-heavyweight Leonardo “Block” Acanda was victorious in his BKFC debut, defeating James “Murda” Rodriguez via unanimous decision. Acanda scored the sole knockdown of the night, ultimately leading to the 29-27 verdict among all three judges. Rodriguez, who also represents Miami, FL, is now 1-1.
Oakland Park, FL heavyweight Brandon “Rhino” Alfano needed just 36 seconds to steamroll Alexander “The Ghost” Govea in his BKFC debut. Govea, who hails from San Fernando Valley, CA, was also stepping into the squared circle for the first time.
Rohan “Headline Ro” Prado and Carlo “El Bambino” Ricci fought to a draw in a lightweight matchup. Ricci dropped Prado in the sole knockdown of the contest, but couldn’t convince the judges, who agreed on the 28-28 verdict across the board. Prado, who represents Hialeah, FL, is now 1-0-1, while the Caracas, Venezuela product Ricci is now 0-1.
Adyam “Pulga” Devillafuerte beat Brian “The Hammer” Kleb via TKO in their battle of debuting local welterweights in the opening bout of the night. Devillafuerte sent Kleb to the canvas three times before the fight was called to a stop at 1:36 of the second round.
David Feldman, BKFC president, spoke with the media afterwards and said, "I thought it was a phenomenal night. Obviously the ending wasn’t what we wanted. A frustrated Julian Lane took down Bryce Henry and he got disqualified, which he should have. I don’t like that at all. It was heating up to be a great fight. I’m really not happy about that. This is one of the best fight cards we’ve had at Hard Rock. We had another sellout here. This is our 16th straight sellout here. Thank you to the fans and fighters because that was an amazing night.”
Knockout of the Night: Julio Perez.
Fights of the Night: Gorjan Slaveski def. Jonny Tello, Leonardo Acanda def. James Rodriguez.
BKFC Fight Night Hollywood Results
Bryce Henry def. Julian Lane via Disqualification in Round 4 (0:35);
Gorjan Slaveski def. Jonny Tello via Unanimous Decision (47-46 (twice) and 48-45);
Mike Jones def. Stephen Townsel via KO in round 1 (0:56);
Gee Perez def. Mike Hansen via KO in round 1 (0:44);
Gustavo Balart def. Alexander Gutierrez via Split Decision (49-4 (twice) and 47-48);
Peter Peraza def. Ashton Caniglia via TKO in round 2 (1:46);
Julio Perez def. Lamont Stafford via KO in round 1 (0:44);
Romain Courcier def. Eduardo Suarez via KO in round 1 (1:48);
Leonardo Acanda def. James Rodriguez via Unanimous Decision (29-27 on three cards);
Brandon Alfano def. Alex Govea via KO in round 1 (0:36);
Rohan Prado vs. Carlo Ricci declared a Unanimous Draw (28-28 on three cards); and
Adyam Devillafuerte def. Brian Kleb via TKO in round 2 (1:36).
