Former UFC fighters were involved in Friday’s BKFC: Knucklemania 3 event and it was a tough night at the office for some of them.
In the co-main event, Diego Sanchez made his bare-knuckle boxing debut in what appeared on paper to be a tough match-up against former WBA light-middleweight champion Austin Trout, who holds a 36-5 career record and had won his last five boxing bouts.
The 41-year-old Sanchez tried his best, but he was no match for the slicker, more skilled technical boxing of the 37-year-old Trout, who was able to elude the ex-UFC star’s on-rushing attacks and gradually began to bloody him up.
In the fourth round Trout put Sanchez down with a left hand and though Sanchez showed his famed toughness to get back up his face was by now a bloody mess and soon after that led to a TKO stoppage due to a doctor’s stoppage.
Sanchez’s loss in his bare-knuckle debut comes after he suffered back-to-back defeats in his last two MMA appearances as well.
Another familiar face on the card was John Dodson, who was last seen fighting in Rizin in Japan at the end of last year, picking up a KO victory that night.
Already 1-0 in the BKFC promotion, Dodson improved his record last night with a first round KO finish over Jarod Grant.
However, controversial ex-NFL player / UFC fighter Greg Hardy didn’t fare as well, getting rocked by Josh Watson late in the first round by a left hook and then brutally KO’d early in the second by the same punch.
The 34-year-old Hardy had been released by the UFC last year after losing three fights in a row, but had since gone 2-0 in pro-boxing and had been an overwhelming favorite going into the fight with the 40-year-old Watson, who improves his bare-knuckle record to 2-1.
Check out all the results from last night’s BKFC: Knucklemania 3 event below.
Lorenzo Hunt def. Mike Richman via KO – Round 1, 1:50
Austin Trout def. Diego Sanchez via TKO (doctor stoppage) – R4, 1:44
John Dodson def. Jarod Grant via KO – Round 1, 1:41
Josh Watson def. Greg Hardy Jr. via KO – Round 2, 0:19
Jayme Hinshaw def. Charisa Sigala via KO – Round 1, 0:38
Wil Santiago def. Noah Cutter via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 1, 2:00
Gaston Reyno def. Daniel Vansickle via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 1, 1:26
Joshua Moreno def. Christian Torres via TKO – Round 2, 1:02
Kevin Croom def. Chevvy Bridges via KO – Round 1, 1:11
Eric Dodson def. Gene Perez via KO – Round 1, 1:32
Nick Gonzalez def. Lardy Navarro via KO – Round 1, 0:41
Derek Perez def. Anthony Sanchez via unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 50-44)
