Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is beefing up its roster.
Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will make his 185-pound debut against combat sports wild man Mike Perry at BKFC 41 on April 29 in Broomfield, Colorado, the same event that features the addition of former UFC lightweight titleholder Eddie Alvarez. “The Underground King” will throw hands with longtime UFC title contender-turned-bareknuckle boxer Chad Mendes at 165 pounds.
The fights were recently announced on a special edition of The MMA Hour.
Rockhold, 38, parted ways with UFC after a unanimous decision loss to Paulo Costa last August, his first MMA fight in over three years. The former champ was vocal about his displeasure with UFC and will get a chance to reinvent himself on the bareknuckle scene. The 31 year-old Perry, a former UFC welterweight, is 2-0 for BKFC with decision wins over TUF washout Julian “Bang Bro” Lane and Bellator MMA attraction Michael “Venom” Page.
Alvarez, 39, bolted from UFC in late 2018 but failed to find his footing under the ONE Championship banner. In four trips to the ONE cage, “The Underground King” scraped by with a measly 1-2 record and one “No Contest.” As for Mendes, 37, he also bailed on UFC in late 2018 but recently returned to combat sports with a technical knockout victory over gloveless toughie Joshuah Alvarez at BKFC: “KnuckleMania 2” back in Feb. 2022.
Expect more BKFC 41 fight announcements in the coming weeks, if not days.
Mendes appears to be perfect for BKFC rules and without USADA. I doubt Eddie can keep up with him
Nice.
I am absolutely here for that
Rockhold doing bareknuckle boxing doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I don’t like his chances vs Perry here.
Name Recognition imo
Increasingly recognized as the once-great UFC fighter who keeps getting KTFO’d!
No kicks
No ground game
No…problem?
No word on Rothwell’s opponent? Wonder if they gonna go big for that one too.
Rockhold is huge compared to Perry. What weight are the even fighting at?
This. 205’er against a guy who should be fighting at 155. Great matchmaking.
Middleweight
MOAR than welcome Sat if U want festivities , Beep
Just look at this UFC wasteland.
Love it!
Will watch this one for sure.