Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), The World’s Fastest Growing Combat Sports Promotion, kicked off its 2024 campaign with a bang on Saturday, January 27 with an action-packed BKFC Prospect Series event at the sold-out Revel Arena in Albuquerque, NM.
In the main event, Donald Sanchez electrified his hometown crowd with a jaw-dropping, 35-second TKO victory over Noah Cutter of Fort Walton Beach, FL in their highly anticipated middleweight showdown. With the impressive win, Sanchez upped his BKFC record to 2-1. Cutter fell to 3-7 as he became just the seventh fighter in BKFC history to compete 10 times in the squared circle.
“I was born to do this – I just love it,” Sanchez told the jam-packed Revel Arena. “I love it, and I want big fights. I want the belt. Let’s go – let’s get these big fights happening.”
In the co-main event, Albuquerque’s Taylor "Killa Bee" Starling returned to the win column and improved to 4-2 in her BKFC career with a hard-fought, unanimous decision victory over Jenny “Savage” Clausius of Clarksville, TN in their hotly anticipated strawweight clash. Starling, a former BKFC Championship challenger, earned a bit of redemption with her victory over Clausius; Clausius defeated Starling in their 2019 MMA match. The judges scored Saturday’s bout 48-47, 50-45, 49-46 in favor of Starling. Clausius’ BKFC record fell to 3-3 with the loss.
“This is my home. I wasn’t born here, but I was raised here, and that’s why I am the fighter I am,” Starling told the sold-out Revel Arena, adding, “I just want to keep fighting. I’ve fought a lot of demons over the last two years, so it feels good to be back in the win column.”
In the feature fight, Albuquerque’s Eric “Thuggy Bear” Dodson also returned to the win column in style with a 40-second KO over Great Falls, MT’s Dakota “MontanaDak” Highpine. Dodson, the brother of BKFC Flyweight World Champion John Dodson, is now 3-1 in the BKFC featherweight division, with all of his victories coming by first-round stoppage. Highpine is now 1-3 under the BKFC banner.
"Every time I take a little step up towards that title and we're definitely looking to take on some contenders," Eric Dodson said to much applause at Revel Arena.
Saturday’s event featured an exciting mix of established BKFC stars and fresh-faced rookies.
In a spirited battle of Albuquerque light-heavyweight prospects, William Albrecht,
(1-0), floored Freddy Sandoval, (0-1), three times in the first round, paving the way for the technical-knockout victory with just one second remaining in the opening stanza of their BKFC Prospect Series matchup.
Making history as the first fighter from Chechnya to compete in the BKFC squared circle, Ismail Israilov, (1-0), needed only 72 seconds to knock out Danasabe Mohammed, (0-1), of Napa, CA in their middleweight bout.
Albuquerque’s Juan Adams, (1-0), dug deep in his BKFC debut as the heavy-handed UFC vet defeated Matt Adams, (0-1), of Heath, OH via TKO in the third round of their back-and-forth heavyweight battle. Time of the stoppage was 1:30.
Karla Alvarez, (1-0), entertained her hometown crowd with a first-round TKO victory over Belen, NM’s Brittany Horton, (0-1), in women’s strawweight action. Time of the stoppage was 1:59.
Albuquerque’s own Felipe Chavez opened up a series of nasty cuts under the eye of Shreveport, LA’s Michael Manno, forcing the ringside doctor to call a halt to their fight 1:27 into the third round of their middleweight matchup. Chavez, the cousin of combat sports legend Diego Sanchez, improved to 1-0 with the win, while Manno’s record fell to 1-2.
Kaine Tomlinson Jr., (1-0), of Roanoke, VA needed just 33 seconds to knockout Apostle Spencer, (0-1), in their welterweight fight. Tomlinson is the son of BKFC fan-favorite Kaine Tomlinson Sr., and brother to BKFC vet Zion Tomlinson.
In the highly anticipated first fight of the BKFC 2024 campaign, Zach Pannell, (1-0), of Lancaster, PA overcame a knockdown just seconds into his bout with Albuquerque’s Kasey Yates, (0-1), to claim victory via standing KO in the first round of their lightweight bout. Time of the stoppage was 1:44.
The event streamed LIVE worldwide on The BKFC App, on FuboTV and the official BKFC YouTube channel. Saturday’s action was BKFC’s fourth event in Albuquerque.
BKFC Prospect Series Results
Donald Sanchez def. Noah Cutter via TKO in Round 1 (0:35)
Taylor Starling def. Jenny Clausius via Unanimous Decision (48-47, 50-45, 49-46)
Eric Dodson def. Dakota Highpine via KO in Round 1 (0:40)
William Albrecht def. Freddy Sandoval via TKO in Round 1 (1:59)
Ismail Israilov def. Danasabe Mohammed via KO in Round 1 (1:12)
Juan Adams def. Matt Adams via TKO in Round 3 (1:30)
Karla Alvarez def. Brittany Horton via TKO in Round 1 (1:59)
Felipe Chavez def. Michael Manno via TKO doctor stoppage in Round 3 (1:27)
Kaine Tomlinson Jr. def. Apostle Spencer via KO in Round 1 (0:33)
Zach Pannell def. Kasey Yates via KO in Round 1 (1:44)