The biggest bareknuckle event of the year is finally here!

More than four years after signing with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) — and nearly two years after first teasing a Mike Perry fight — former UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves will finally return to headline the BKFC “KnuckleMania 4” pay-per-view (PPV) bareknuckle boxing event against the “Platinum” power puncher. The action gets underway tomorrow night (Sat., April 27, 2024) inside Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California.

This marks the BKFC debut in “The Golden State” after scoring legislation back in late 2023.

“I want to thank Andy Foster and the California state athletic commission,” BKFC President David Feldman said at the “KnuckleMania 4” press conference (watch it here). “I want to thank him for welcoming us with open arms to California. BKFC is close to being legislated everywhere. There’s really no reason for anyone to say no to this sport anymore. We didn’t just create a promotion or a sport; we created a phenomenon. When we started this thing, the media wasn’t writing about us. When we sell the kind of tickets we sell, and the kind of views we do, they can’t say no to us anymore.”

They can, however, say no to Darren Till.

Former UFC heavyweights Ben Rothwell and Todd Duffee will also hook ‘em up on the “KnuckleMania 4” fight card (see the full lineup here). This marks the second time BKFC has tried to make this fight happen after “Big Ben” bailed on the bout last December. Reports of turkey tampering were later proven to be a Duffee smear campaign (or maybe he was still “bitter” about flunk-out fighting). In addition, Lorenzo Hunt and Mick Terrill collide for the BKFC Heavyweight Championship in the “KnuckleMania 4” co-main event. The entire card can be streamed for $ 29.99 on YouTube.

Let’s take a closer look at all three fights.

185 lbs.: “Platinum” Mike Perry (4-0) vs. Thiago “Pitbull” Alves (2-0)

Mike Perry had a losing record in UFC and dropped four of his last five MMA fights before parting ways with the promotion. His career inside the Octagon didn’t get off to a great start and “Platinum” couldn’t seem to keep himself out of trouble, which had a lot of people (myself included) writing him off. I thought he might go to Bellator or PFL and eventually fade away but instead, Perry found his calling in BKFC. Whatever you think about him as a person, there is no denying Perry is the biggest bareknuckle star in the sport and has the record to prove it, racking up a perfect 4-0 with two stoppages against former UFC champions and one victory over former Bellator MMA striking specialist Michael “Venom” Page. “Platinum” only seems to be getting better (and more violent) in each successive fight.

“I’m honored to be on top of the card of these crazy fights,” Perry said at the “KnuckleMania 4” press conference (watch it here). “All these fights are insane. I’m going to be watching these fights in the back and I’ll be excited to perform myself. I’ve gotta steal the show. These guys are trying to steal the show from me, so I’ve gotta take it up a notch at the end of the night.”

“If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it. I’ve been on the same path all this time since I got here, and that’s putting my knuckles up against people’s faces,” Perry continued. “They call, they offer me a name, I say yes to it, and we prepare. I think I’ve had a tough selection of fights in bareknuckle, which is why I can have that designation as the face of bareknuckle, and that’s why I’m on top of the card.”

“I’ve been saying it for years: the next one is the best one, and this is the best one,” Perry said. “I’ve been climbing, every fight has been better than the last and it’s always been against a tougher opponent. Alves was a BKFC champion, but I don’t think he’s ever beat a UFC champion, and I did. I think he’s bringing it, and I can’t wait to meet him in the middle on Saturday.”

Thiago Alves, who turns 41 this fall, departed UFC back in late 2019 after dropping four of five and looking rather listless in the process. In the nearly five years that he’s been gone, Alves has only managed to compete twice for BKFC, scoring the promotion’s inaugural middleweight title with a stoppage over Ulysses Diaz at BKFC 18 in June 2021. If you combine his age with his inactivity, it’s kind of hard to make a case for his victory tomorrow night in “The City of Angels.” I think we also have to abandon this idea that Alves is some sort of striking savant because if you look at his UFC record, “Pitbull” has just one knockout since planishing Matt Hughes in early 2008, a span of 16 years and 17 fights.

“I prepared my mind, my body,” Alves said at the “KnuckleMania 4” press conference (watch it here). “I’m ready to go. You’ll see it. It was the Mike Perry name and the money that brought me back.”

I hope the contract was a good one, because Perry is younger, fresher, and not fighting for the money. He’s fighting because that’s who he is and this is what he does. He likes pain almost as much as he likes inflicting it. Old man Alves just wants a paycheck. Consider this a mismatch.

Prediction: Perry def. Alves by technical knockout

265 lbs.: Mick Terrill (7-1) vs. Lorenzo “The Juggernaut” Hunt (11-1) for BKFC Heavyweight Championship

Lorenzo Hunt was not a very good MMA fighter, starting his cage-fighting career in late 2015 and putting together a dreadful 3-5 record before migrating to the fertile landscape of bareknuckle boxing. In BKFC, “The Juggernaut” — much like Perry — found his calling, compiling an impressive 11-1 record with nine knockouts. He also captured world titles in two different weight classes, outpointing Hector Lombard at BKFC 22 to win the inaugural light heavyweight strap before stopping Quentin Henry to score the vacant cruiserweight championship at BKFC 30.

Hunt believes those accomplishments make him the greatest bareknuckle fighter in history.

“I’m the best that’s ever done it,” Hunt said at the “KnuckleMania 4” press conference (watch it here). “I’m already the GOAT. I’m not sure if you pay attention to the numbers, but I’ve got more fights and more wins than everybody else up here combined. There’s no (expletive) way that I should be up here on the ‘B’ side. I’ve bled for this; teeth, blood, bones. I am the show. I’m not the face of bareknuckle, as they keep telling me; I’m the knuckles of bare knuckle.”

“After I become the three-division world champion, I will allow the other divisions to crown new champions. For now, I’ll let them breathe,” Hunt continued. “When I came to this organization, I came through the tryouts. I knew for a fact how I would be and how it would go. I told everybody, but they didn’t believe me. After I become the triple world champ, I’ll grab the mic and I’ll say, ‘Do you (expletive) believe me now?’”

Mick Terrill did not flounder in MMA like many of his BKFC brothers but did have a successful run as a kickboxer for SuperKombat. In addition, the British brawler has a Muay Thai background and used his striking skills to rack up a 7-1 record for David Feldman and Co. with eight knockouts, including his title-winning destruction of Arnold Adams at BKFC 56 late last year. He’s only a year younger than the 41 year-old Hunt, but unlike “The Juggernaut,” Terrill is a true heavyweight and certainly hits like one, which I expect to be the difference maker on fight night.

“I think the thing with Lorenzo is; I think he’s well suited back at school,” Terrill said at the “KnuckleMania 4” press conference (watch it here). “He’s got the mentality of a 10 year-old. I think he’d be more suited there.”

Unless Terrill fights sloppy and gets caught, expect him to end this somewhere in the second half of the fight.

Prediction: Terrill def. Hunt by knockout

265 lbs.: “Big” Ben Rothwell (2-0) vs. Todd Duffee (0-0)

I’m kind of fascinated by Todd Duffee, who is somehow still a “name” despite the fact that he hasn’t won a fight in 10 years. Once heralded as the future of the heavyweight division, thanks to a record-setting knockout at UFC 102 back in late 2009, Duffee would get mixed up in the TRT drama, piss off UFC CEO Dana White, then get cut from UFC after a knockout loss to the unheralded Mike Russow in May 2010. Duffee would eventually return after a protracted battle with injuries but once again, failed to make an impact in the 265-pound division. His last trip to the cage ended in a technical knockout loss to Phil De Fries at KSW 79 in early 2023, his only fight over the last five years.

“I’m going to go out and make history on Saturday night,” Duffee said at the “KnuckleMania 4” press conference (watch it here).

I have no idea what that means because win or lose, it’s just a bareknuckle fight on the PPV main card. I’m not sure what the historical component is or what he plans to do that would etch his name into the annals of combat sports history. Maybe he’ll drive up to the ring in a beer truck like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and give his opponent a sudsy shower?

Like most UFC veterans who later link up with BKFC, Ben Rothwell struggled to stay consistent inside the Octagon, getting smoked by Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC Vegas 42 before getting abruptly released in early 2022. “Big Ben” was not a perfect fighter by any means, earning a two-year drug suspension in early 2017, but for the purposes of this contest it’s worth noting that Rothwell has 28 knockouts in 39 MMA fights. More importantly, the 42 year-old bruiser already has two wins in the bareknuckle arena, smashing Bobo O’Bannon at BKFC 30 before wrecking Josh Copeland at BKFC 41. Duffee has no victories and no experience as a bareknuckle fighter, is coming off an extended layoff, and hasn’t seen the win column in nearly a decade. This seems like a pretty easy pick.

“I love this company,” Rothwell said at the “KnuckleMania 4” press conference (watch it here). “David Feldman and the BKFC staff are trail blazers. They’re making history. Each one of these events are historic, and I want to be a part of it. I’m out here to perform and set my place in BKFC history.”

I guess these guys were instructed to keep repeating “history!” during last night’s presser.

Prediction: Rothwell def. Duffee by knockout

For much more on this weekend’s “KnuckleMania 4” card click here.

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