One of the most popular retirement plans for former MMA fighters is the Bare-Knuckle route – and boy-o-boy, there’s certainly a potential super-fight on the BKFC horizon.
Back in January, former UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell scored an insane 36-second KO to claim the Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship’s heavyweight crown.
Following that latest viral knockout, Rothwell called out MMA juggernaut Francis Ngannou for what would be a sensational super-fight for the surging combat sports promotion.
The bad news is that it remains highly unlikely that Ngannou would step into the BKFC arena – the good news is that there’s a ‘Super Samoan’ who is ready and waiting in the barbecue-wings.
Mark Hunt teases ‘final walk away’ fight in BKFC against former foe
In several social media posts shared earlier today, former Pride and UFC heavyweight superstar Mark Hunt teased that he’s going to headline an upcoming BKFC event against Ben Rothwell.
Not only did the ‘Super Samoan’ hint that the two iconic former UFC fighters would throwdown when the promotion returns to Italy – but that this would be his last outing as a combat sports athlete.
“The final walk away,” he wrote on both X and Instagram, tagging Rothwell and warning that “Sept I’m going to barbecue u for the second time.”
Hunt defeated Rothwell all the way back in 2011 at UFC 135: Jones vs Rampage in what was the New Zealander’s only UFC fight to have gone the distance.
Hunt left the UFC in 2018, after which he made the switch from MMA cage to boxing ring.
The ‘Super Samoan’ lost his first boxing outing in December 2020 via unanimous decision before scoring a vicious fourth-round TKO over Rugby legend Sonny Bill Williams in 2022.
Whilst social media callouts more-often-than-not fall on deaf ears, there is a very real possibility that Mark Hunt vs Ben Rothwell 2 could be made under the BKFC banner later in 2025 – but why?
Ben Rothwell and BKFC founder respond to Mark Hunt’s callout
After his 36-second win in January, Rothwell was asked at the post-fight press conference whether he’d be willing to throwdown with Mark Hunt – his answer left little room for doubt.
“Yeah, let’s do it – y’all really think that I’m going to say no? Let’s f—– go m——-, knuckle up!”
Hunt would then re-share a clip of Rothwell’s answer with the caption, “U sure you want the smoke, let’s see it then,” to which Rothwell replied with a series of moneybag emojis.
During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, BKFC founder Dave Feldman also clarified that there’s a “possibility” of making Hunt vs Rothwell for the heavyweight title.
“I mean, possibly – Mark Hunt has never fought BKFC before, so how is that fair to any of the fighters in our organization to let him jump into a championship fight?
“I think I’d have to give Mark Hunt a fight first and then the Ben Rothwell fight,” said Feldman, who is currently in negotiations with a prospective event partner in Australia.