ALBUQUERQUE – Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship returned to New Mexico with KnuckleMania 3, an extraordinary event in front of a sold-out crowd of over 8,000 fans at the historic Tingley Coliseum.
In the long-awaited main event for the BKFC light heavyweight world championship, champion Lorenzo “The Juggernaut” Hunt (10-1) got off the canvas in the first round against interim champion Mike “The Marine” Richman (5-1) and remarkably scored a stoppage victory at the 1:50 mark of the opening stanza.
With both fighters coming off the scratch to start the fight throwing and landing huge body and head shots, Richman would drop Hunt with a massive left hand. The valiant Hunt rose from the canvas and perfectly countered the southpaw with a huge right hand to the jaw, sending Richman sprawling to the canvas as the fight was waived off.
With the victory a jubilant Hunt addressed the huge crowd and international broadcast audience. “I’m already the light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion, now it’s time to fight for the heavyweight title – give me the winner of Arnold Adams versus Alan Belcher next Friday night.”
Fighting in the welterweight division in the highly anticipated cross-state rivalry fight, former boxing world champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout (1-0) of Las Cruces made a phenomenal BKFC debut stopping UFC legend Diego Sanchez (0-1) of Albuquerque in the fourth round. The more elusive Trout was able to stick with his gameplan, fighting on the outside throughout the fight and hitting without getting hit.
Although the more aggressive Sanchez had his moments of success in each round, he was unable to mount a consistent attack. Trout dropped Sanchez with a stinging left hand in the fourth round and the fight was stopped by the ringside physician due to multiple cuts suffered by the popular Sanchez. Time of the stoppage was 1:44.
Following the fight, BKFC double champ Luis Palomino entered the ring and congratulated Trout while offering him an opportunity to fight for his welterweight title.
In a special attraction flyweight matchup, John “The Magician” Dodson (2-0) thrilled his vast wealth of supporters stopping Jarod “Kid Gatti” Grant (5-2) in the first round (1:41) from a cluster of power shots.
Making his much talked about BKFC heavyweight debut, towering former NFL all-pro defensive lineman Greg Hardy (0-1) was stopped in the second round by Josh Watson, (2-1). Watson scored a knockdown of Hardy in the opening stanza as the referee ruled that the ropes kept him up. Following excellent two-way action for most of the second round, Watson knocked Hardy down with a battering left hand earning the victory at 0:19 of the stanza.
In the women’s strawweight division, Jayme Hinshaw (2-0) stopped Charisa Sigala (1-4-1) in the first round. With Sigala knocked down in the first round with a sharp right hand, the California native suffered an ankle injury which caused the fight to be stopped (1:22).
Fighting in the middleweight division, the clash between Will Santiago (2-0) and Noah Cutter (3-5) came to an abrupt ending between the first and second rounds as Cutter would suffer a very badly cut lip from a right hand landed from Santiago. The medical stoppage resulted in a TKO victory for Santiago.
Popular Spanish language sports commentator Gaston Reyno (1-0) won his BKFC debut in the lightweight division with a first-round stoppage of Daniel Van Sickle (0-2). A big right hand from Reyno drilled Van Sickle to the canvas. Upon rising the ringside physician declared him unable to continue at the 1:26 mark of round one.
In the middleweight division Joshua Moreno (2-0) stopped Christian Torres (2-3) in the second round. Time of the stoppage from a perfectly thrown right hand uppercut was 1:02.
Lightweight Kevin Croom (2-0), came out guns blazing and scored a first-round knockout of Chevy Bridges (1-2). A hammering right, left combo to the head earned the stoppage at 1:11 of the round.
Eric Dodson (2-0) scored a first-round stoppage of BKFC debuting Gene Perez (0-3) in their featherweight matchup. Perez was dropped three times prior to the referee stoppage at 1:32 of the opening stanza.
In the featherweight division, BKFC debuting Nate Gonzalez (1-0) impressed with a first-round knockout of Sito Navarro (1-1). Gonzalez knocked down Navarro with a big left hand midway through the round and then earned the stoppage from a barrage of punches at the 0:41 mark.
Opening the show MMA arch-rivals Derek Perez (1-0) and Anthony Sanchez (0-1) commenced with furious two-way action from the opening bell. Perez would score a knockdown in the second round and win a hard-fought unanimous decision by scores of 50-44, 49-45, 49-45.
