MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship made their triumphant debut in South Carolina on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd of supporters at the John T. Rhodes Myrtle Beach Sports Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The event was broadcast free of charge on the new BKFC app.
Headlining the 12-fight BKFC 35 card, Gorjan “Gogo” Slaveski, (5-0, 4 KO), of Skopje, Macedonia continued his magnificent run with a fourth-round stoppage of “The Pink Panther” Yosdenis Cedeno (2-1) of Havana, Cuba, earning the rating as the No. 1 contender for BKFC welterweight world champion Luis Palomino.
Following an attempt by Cedeno to shake up Slaveski early in the fight with low blows, Slaveski kept his composure and dropped the bleeding Cedeno hard to the canvas with a big left hand. Keeping the relentless pressure on in the fourth round, Slaveski dropped Cedeno again in the fourth round earning the stoppage at 1:53 of round four.
Co-featured in the bantamweight division, longtime cross-state rivals Keith “The Rock Star” Richardson (1-0) and Justin “Tank” Scoggins (0-1) made their BKFC debuts, clashing in an outstanding two-way battle. Both combatants traded knockdowns moments apart in the second round with each bloodied warrior forging on towards the finish line. Following the five rounds of excellent back-and-forth action, Richardson was declared the unanimous decision winner by scores of 48-47 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Fighting in the women’s flyweight division, Andy “The CrAsian” Nguyen (2-0) stayed undefeated in a split-decision victory over valiant Veronika Dmitriyeva (0-2). In a very competitive five rounds, Nguyen would prove to be the more skilled and harder puncher, earning the victory by scores of 49-46, 49-46 and 46-49.
Competing in the lightweight division, BKFC debuting Brandon Bushaw (1-0) brutally dropped Paul Teague (0-3) with a right-handed body shot and was awarded victory by knockout when the fight was stopped at 1:02 of the opening stanza
Roberto Armas (2-1) wasted no time against Jakobi Lowry (0-3), scoring two quick knockdowns and securing a knockout win at 1:10 of round one in their bantamweight matchup.
Murat “Lord Pitbull” Kazgan (1-0) of Turkey made quick work of fellow BKFC debuter Jordan Weeks (0-1), with a rapid-fire aggressive start. Dropping the badly bleeding Weeks three times in the first round, the fight was stopped by the ringside physician at the 1:41 mark.
Competing in the lightweight division, fan favorite Tony “Loco” Soto (4-0) stopped Wanya Reid (0-2) in the fourth round (0:31).
Fighting in the bantamweight division, Albert Inclan (1-1) won a unanimous decision over Devin Gibson. Scores were 50-44, 49-45 and 48-46.
Heavyweight Will Sears (1-0) was declared the winner in his fight with Tomar Washington (0-1) when the fight was stopped in the second round (0:57) due to Washington’s illegal strikes.
Trevor Loken (1-0) impressed in his BKFC debut with a first-round knockout (0:40) over Marcus Brimage (0-2).
Fighting in the featherweight division, James Brown (1-0) made his successful BKFC debut against Stevo Morris (2-2), winning a unanimous decision by scores of 49-46, 49-46 and 48-46.
In the middleweight division, Doug Coltrane (2-0) stopped BKFC debuting Brian Jackson (0-1) in the second round (0:53).
