Watch the BKFC 41 weigh-in sillys here:
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BKFC 41 headliners play fight at weigh-ins to promote the bout
BKFC 41‘s Luke Rockhold and Mike Perry put on a show even at the weigh- ins Friday…or was it a show? Either way the kayfabe was thick at Denver’s 1STBANK Center as Rockhold made a point of shadow boxing at Perry before the pair closed in for an intense stare down.
Watch the “action” here:
BKFC 41 more than competitive with tonights UFC Vegas card
Rockhold and Perry are headlining a pretty stacked BKFC 41 card. The card also features former UFC stars Eddie Alvarez vs. Chad Mendes and Ben Rothwell. The promotion is benefitting from a very mediocre UFC Vegas 72 fight card that has been devastated with cancellations and late replacements.
Initially the UFC had planned to headline the event with Renato Moicano vs. Arman Tsarukyan but that fight fell through following a Moicano injury. So they robbed Peter (in this case the UFC Vegas 71 card headlined by heavyweights Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes) to pay Paul with a UFC Vegas 72 headliner featuring top-10 bantamweights Yadong Song and Ricky Simón.
But is BKFC 41 really “better” than UFC Vegas 72?
That’s what our own Stephie Haynes thinks according to her op-ed about BKFC 41 vs UFC Vegas 72, saying “might not be the savior we’re looking for in the long term, but it’s certainly come through to save the weekend.” Two quick counter points to that argument though. First, it’s $49.99 vs the $9.99 ESPN+ subscription cost. Second, it’s bare knuckle boxing vs MMA.
BKFC is an heir to the proud semi-pro boxing tradition that brought us Eric “Butterbean” Esch in the 1990s. Of course, Butterbean fought with gloves in special rules boxing matches they called “Toughman Contests.” Those rules provide for “the use of standard amateur boxing rules, 16 ounces for each glove, protective headgear, and bouts made of 3 rounds of boxing.”
BKFC fighters don’t wear gloves, obviously, instead “fighters are permitted to wrap and tape the wrist, thumb, and mid-hand. No gauze or tape can be within 1 inch of the knuckles” and bouts are made up of five two-minute rounds.
There’s also the whole “toe the line” thing where, per the BKFC rules there are “two lines, three feet apart, in the center of the ring where the fighters will start each round. The front foot will be on the line, and then the referee will instruct the fighters to “Knuckle Up” this means the beginning of the round/bout.”
This is an attempt to force the action, one step away from phone booth fights. Unfortunately, bareknuckle boxing mostly exposes the fighters to hand injuries and extra cuts on the face rather than increasing knock outs.
Personally I prefer the mixed martial arts rule set. Especially when the card features great grapplers like Luke Rockhold and Chad Mendes. Ah well, beggars like us can’t be choosey. Enjoy the fights!
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