BKFC Knocks Out Tampa Once Again at BKFC Fight Night Tampa 2

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), The World’s Fastest Growing Combat Sports Promotion, once again put on an amazing event in our back yard of Tampa FL.

“This was our fifth event in Tampa, and we’re thrilled to return and promote this world class event for the outstanding Florida BKFC fans,” said Dave Feldman, President of BKFC. The night was headlined with the main event between Reggie Barnett and Jarod Grant with the co-main light heavyweight being a clash featuring Jared Warren versus John Michael Escoboza. Grant vs. Barnett was for the Interim BKFC Bantamweight Title.

With a packed crowd full of rabid BKFC fans out in attendance at the Fairgrounds Expo Center, the night got started off with the preliminary fight card that showcased some up-and-coming fighters. But before the fighters hit the mat, Brian Soscia got the crowd even more fired up by throwing out some great shirts and hats from the main sponsor in Lions Not Sheep. https://www.lionsnotsheep.com/

The first event of the preliminaries was broadcasted live on Youtube and featured Alex Tierney of Tampa against Darrick ‘The Buck’ Gates of Montana. The fight got started with a bang and a spatter of controversy. After Gates took an early lead in the fight with a barrage of punches that connected and cut Tierney badly, Tierney continued to press forward.

Tierney was successful in his attack and landed punches that were effective but also hit Gates with an unintentional head butt that stunned him and dropped him. After getting back up, Gates was looked at by the referee and it was determined that he could no longer continue.

All of Tierney’s local supporters and fans and even Tierney himself disputed the call especially after the replays on the big screen but the official decision stood up with a no contest due to an unintentional head butt. Tierney’s enthusiasm and skill cannot be denied, and he will be back fighting in the BKFC

The second prelim matched JR “The Lion” Ridge from Clearwater vs. Justyn Martinez from Wichita, Kansas. There was lots of clutching early on then haymakers galore with Ridge landing the more effective strikes.  The second round was more measured as both fighters laid back a bit but then the “Lion” struck fiercely with multiple blows and Martinez went down slowly with the ref calling timeout to check on a cut. Martinez took the standing 8 count also and the fight continued.

In the 3^rd round, Ridge continued his attack with Martinez trying to find a location for his wide looping punches. As he got more and more frustrated, Ridge jabbed him into submission with the knockout punch being a hard straight left jab that put Martinez down for the last time.

Just watching Ridge up close, you can see that he has the defensive skills, and he knows when to strike to be effective. This young man from Clearwater should have a bright future with bigger fights to come in the BKFC.

The Pay View Card got underway with an exciting matchup that matched Paul Waters v Henry “Pit Bull” Williams from Clearwater’s “Team Reaper.”

Waters started the fight with a bull rush head of steam toward Williams but slipped down twice with one being called a knockdown. Waters then got hit with heavy right hand that put him down for a third time.

The fight continued with Williams hitting Waters with a variety of punches with Waters hitting the canvas two more times. The referee and the fans had enough of Waters going down on one knee and at 1:19 into round one the fight was stopped. Not a great start to the main card but Williams was impressive and him and Team Reaper from Clearwater are having a great night so far.

Up next was a fight that had the crowd buzzing a bit prior to the event getting underway. It was the matchup that included Stevo “The Blessed” Morris from Tampa vs. Brandon Allen from Saint Pete.  This fight I dubbed “The Battle Across The Bridge.” 

In the opening round, both fighters were content with just feeling each other out but in the second, Allen hit Stevo with a big right hand to send Stevo to the canvas for an eight count. After shaking his head at Allen throughout the first two rounds, he acknowledged the big strike with a nod.

Right after the bell for the third, Allen moved across the ring quickly and hit Stevo with a hammer that dropped him once more. After getting off the mat and regaining his composure, Stevo was able to land a few shots of his own on Allen before going to the fourth round.

After an even fourth round and with Allen ahead on the judges’ cards, the fifth round unfortunately was pretty uneventful with Stevo rushing Allen late to try to win the round.

As the bell rang, Allen jumped in celebration as he believed he won the fight. Allen was right with his prediction as the judges score were unanimous as Brandon “Super Man” Allen won the battle of the Howard Franklin Bridge over favorite Stevo “The Blessed” Morris.

One of the more interesting conclusions to a fight was next up as “Royal” Ryan Reber vs. “Slick” Rick Caruso who was 6ft tall and weighed 134.6 pounds from West Virginia.

Reber walked out to Rage Against The Machines “Killing in the Name of” as the whole crowd started headbanging as Reber entered the ring.

What transpired though was a slow tentative start by Reber as Caruso was lightning fast and was throwing a lot of punches. Reber got caught late by a big Caruso right hand late to solidify the first round on the judge’s cards.

In the 2^nd round, both fighters struggled to find entry points for their punches but then in the last ten seconds, Reber and Caruso sent an arsenal of blows at each other with Caruso landing the more effective strikes.

The third round was dead even until Reber hit Caruso with a monster punch that stunned Caruso, but he regained his composure much quicker than anyone in the audience expected.

In the fourth round, Reber once again crushed Caruso with a right that sent him down to the canvas and after getting back up Reber hit him with one of the best combinations of the night which dropped Caruso again.  The bell struck and both fighters went to their respective corners but after the medical people looked at Caruso, it was determined that he had a broken jaw and obviously couldn’t continue even though he plead to the staff to continue.

After a slow start, Reber impressed everyone with a strong victory against a solid opponent that could take a punch. We will definitely see both of these two guys again as long as Caruso recovers from his broken jaw.

One of the best matchups was next up as two goliaths then approached the ring separately as the heavyweights took center stage.

Josh “Bad Intentions” Sanchez from New Port Richey faced off against Paul ‘Superman’ Shough from Bellefontaine, OH.

Sanchez looked like he meant business from the pre-fight walk up to early in first round with both men landing considerable punches not only to the face but also to the body. This was the first fight of the night that body blows were connecting and were causing considerable damage to both fighters. With Sanchez taking an early lead in the fight, Shough kept his composure and battled through but never looking like he was injured or in serious trouble.

 After counterpunching during the first round, Shough started to force the action with solid shots to the face and body with Sanchez tiring. Even when Sanchez landed blows, Shough kept coming and finally in the late moments of round 3, Shough hit Sanchez with another combination that put Sanchez down on one knee for the count. Shough is a good ole boy that can take a punch and I can’t wait for this guy to fight once again in the BKFC.

In one of the more controversial fights of the night, Rynell “Black Rhino” Riley was matched up against Heinrich Coorssen from Paraguay. What a start it was for the man they call “The Rhino” as less than eight seconds into match he knocked Coorsen down.  To the surprise of the crowd, Coorson jumped right back up to his feet. Riley dominated the first round with another knockdown with the clock ticking down.

The second was more of the same with Riley smashing Coorssen down again but Coorssen bounced back up again. To say this guy was resilient would be an understatement. Coorson then started to aggravate Riley with his determination and his heart an even a few indiscretions that the referee took issue with and warned him about. He definitely walked a thin line of fighting dirty and it was very noticeable.

Riley looked a bit tired and frustrated then Coorsoon took over the fight with powerhouse combinations and a final short right jab that hit the button and dropped him to win the fight in the third round.

Headlining the undercard in the heavyweight division, David “The Redneck” Mundell fought David Simpson of Mankato, Kansas.

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The two veteran BKFC fighters battled back and forth during the first two rounds with the fight being tough to judge. As the third round roared on with both fighters getting a bit winded, Simpson started to take the lead with solid body shots that lead to a solid right to open a cut under Mundell’s left eye. 

Mundell flipped the script in the fourth with a solid round with him focusing on the body with multiple punches connecting on Simpson. At this point it was anyone’s fight going into the fifth round.

But as anyone knows who follows BKFC, expect the unexpected as Mundell hit Simpson with a short but powerhouse right hook that exploded like a grenade that dropped Simpson. Even as he got up before the ten count, Simpson was in no condition to continue as Mundell got the big TKO victory.

Another semi-controversial fight occurred next as John Michael ‘Jomi’ Escoboza ( the official BKFC Hitman) battled # 5 ranked hometown favorite Jared ‘Captain Deadpool’ Warren.

Warren came out to “Stranglehold” by Ted Nugent and did just that to Escoboza in round one. Warren’s boxing skills were in full display as dodged and weaved and countered Escoboza beautifully.

Escoboza regained his composure as both fighters exchanged shots with Escoboza getting the best of Warren in round 2.

Round three was a struggle and a battle for both men but late in round three, Warrens left eye showed a lot of damage as many though the fight could be stopped because of it but the fight continued onto the fourth.

Warren was trying to end the fight with multiple shots to Escoboza in the round, but Escoboza held on and going into the fifth it seemed like it was anyone’s fight.

Warren once again established his jab and stuck Escoboza it seemed at will in the fifth with his left as the fight went the distance.

As the judges’ score cards were read, many were left shaking their heads as the as two judges had it 49-46 and 48-47 for a unanimous decision for Warren. Everyone thought it was close but most on press row had Escoboza at least winning two of the five rounds.

For the finale and main event of BKFC Fight Night Tampa 2, Reggie ‘EAZ E’ Barnett Jr dominated Jarod ‘Kid Gatti’ Grant 5-0 for the Interim Bantam Weight Title. To say this fight was even close would be straight up shenanigans as Barnett hit and aggravated Grant at will.

In the first round, Barnett hit Grant with flurries to the head and body with jabs connecting to easily win the round. It was more of the same in round two and three with Barnett doing whatever he wanted in all aspects of the fight and even in the drawn blood department with Grants nose bleeding profusely.

In round four, Grant was a bit more of the aggressor, but Barnett laid back for a more defensive posture as he knew he was way ahead in the fight.

An accidental thumb to the eye of Grant by Barnett stopped the fight unexpectedly and after a huge delay the fight then went to the Judges’ score cards with Barnett easily winning the fight as he was up 4 rounds to none. 40-36

Once again, the team and founders of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC),  did an amazing job putting on BKFC Fight Night Tampa 2 at the Fairgrounds. It was a sellout show with the fighters doing their best to give the fans a great time and performance and that they did.

BKFC is growing exponentially and will soon be in a town new you and hopefully back in Tampa. For future fight cards and locations, check out https://www.bareknuckle.tv/ for all your BKFC information.