This Saturday night, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is back in California at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert.
It’s the promotion’s first foray into the Coachella Valley, and Bare Knuckle FC is bringing extra heat to the desert with a scorcher of a main event.
The BKFC 84: Palm Desert fight card is headlined by the return of the promotion’s most polarizing fighter: Lorenzo “the Juggernaut” Hunt.
Hunt (11-2, 9 KOs) challenges BKFC Light Heavyweight Champion Josh Dyer (5-1, 5 KOs) in a rematch.
Hunt dominated Dyer in their first bout in 2021, pressuring and knocking down Dyer four times en route to a fifth-round TKO win. To be fair, Dyer had problems with a contact lens during the fight.
“The Juggernaut” went on to win the light heavyweight and cruiserweight titles, and established himself as one of the best bare knucklers of the modern era.
That legacy fell into question after Hunt failed a drug test after a knockout loss to Mick Terrill at Knuckle Mania IV.
He was suspended for 18 months. Saturday night’s clash with Dyer is Hunt’s first activity since the ban was lifted.
Dyer hasn’t lost since the stoppage defeat to Hunt. He’s won three of five bouts, with no contests against Joe Riggs and former champion Jared Warren.
Dyer won the light heavyweight title with an impressive win against Mike Richman. The Hunt rematch is his first title defence. It could be his last-he’ll need to use his jab and hook more, and spend less time in retreat than in the first fight.
The main question regarding Hunt is whether he’ll be the same fighter he was before the suspension. He’s now 43 years old and fighting at light heavyweight for the first time since beating Richman in February 2023.
BKFC 84 Co-Main Event and Featured Fight: Drew Stuve, Aspen Ladd in Action
In the BKFC 84 co-main event, unbeaten Canadian Drew Stuve (3-0, 3 KOs) faces Zeb Vincent (3-2, 3 KOs). Stuve has defeated all 3 of his opponents before the third round.
UFC veteran Aspen Ladd makes her BKFC and bare knuckle debut versus Shyanna Bintliff (2-1, 2 KOs). The women’s featherweight bout is the BKFC 84 featured fight. Bintliff has won two in a row since losing her debut to Skylar Burns in BYB.
BKFC 84: Other Bouts
Russia’s Evgenii Kurdanov (5-2) meets MMA veteran Paolo Games (1-1) in a welterweight bout. Kurdanov scored the biggest win of his career in January when he outboxed former champ Elvin Brito to earn a unanimous decision. Two judges scored every round for Kurdanov.
David Diaz is never in a bad fight. The SoCal native returns to BKFC after an 18-month absence. Diaz (2-1, 1 No Contest) takes on Justyn Martinez (2-5).
Southern California’s Cody Vidal (2-1-1) faces hard-hitting David Simpson (3-4) in a light heavyweight bout. Simpson has won two in a row by stoppage.
UFC and Bellator veteran Chase Gormley (1-1) faces debuting Nelson Best.
Four more bouts are scheduled, including the return of exciting Iman Williams (1-0), the son of former heavyweight contender Jeremy Williams.
(Fight Card subject to change)
How to Watch BKFC 84
BKFC 84: Palm Desert is streaming exclusively on DAZN. The fight card begins at 9pm EST Saturday, which is 2am Sunday morning in the UK.
If you subscribe to the BKFC app but don’t have DAZN, the fights are usually uploaded to the app a few days after the events are streamed on DAZN>
