Bare knuckle boxing was a big story in combat sports in the second half of 2018 with it becoming a legal sport in the United States and in 2019, Bare Knuckle FC (BKFC) held its first event outside of the country.
After three big shows in the U.S. in 2018, BKFC 4 moved south of the border and took place in Cancun, Mexico with several MMA veterans competing on the show. In the main event of the card, former WEC and UFC fighter Leonard Garcia came back from an early knockdown in the first round by dropping Julian Lane multiple times, ending the fight in the second round with several big overhand rights to end the night.
The co-main event, a fight for the Police Gazette World Diamond Bare Knuckle Featherweight title between Bec Rawlings and Cecilia Flores ended with Rawlings retaining her title. Rawlings got the decision victory, but dominated the bout, breaking Flores’ nose very early in the fight and causing blood to gush out of her nose throughout the entire fight. Rawlings has now won for the third time as a bare knuckle boxer.
Other undercard action include Tony Lopez and Joey Beltran fighting in a rematch from their BKFC 1 fight that saw Beltran pick up the win by unanimous decision. The rematch was not as action-packed as their first encounter and it ended with the judges scoring it as a split draw.
In what was perhaps the most exciting fight of the night, Tom Shoaff and Diego Garijo was a back-and-forth slugfest that had Shoaff drop Garijo a total four times. Despite Garijo getting dropped left and right throughout the fight, he pushed the action just as much as Shoaff, making for a wild brawl before Garijo was stopped in the fourth round.
Perhaps the biggest shocker of the night was the announcement of former UFC fighter Anthony “Rumble” Johnson signing with the company. Despite what many initially perceived, Johnson will not fight for the company and instead will work in fighter relations, according to him.
Below are the results for BKFC 4:
- Leonard Garcia defeated Julian Lane by TKO, round 2
- Bec Rawlings defeated Cecilia Flores by unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 49-45) to retain the Police Gazette World Diamond Bare Knuckle Featherweight title
- Tony Lopez and Joey Beltran fight to a split draw (49-46, 48-47, 48-48)
- Chris Lytle defeated JC Llamas by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 49-46)
- Sam Shewmaker defeated Jaime Arevalo by split decision (49-48, 47-48, 49-46)
- Joe Riggs defeated Heriberto Tovar by unanimous decision (49-45, 50-46, 50-44)
- Tom Shoaff defeated Diego Garijo by TKO, round 4
- Alejandro Solorzano defeated Erik Leander by TKO, round 4
- Travis Thompson defeated Ivan Rocka by TKO, round 2
