Jamel Herring outboxed Michael Larrimore to win the BKFC bantamweight title by unanimous decision Friday in Palm Desert, California.
Herring, a former WBO super featherweight champion, controlled distance with his right jab and footwork. An unintentional clash of heads in round two caused swelling above and under Larrimore’s left eye.
Early in round three, a Herring right hook dropped Larrimore for a flash knockdown. Larrimore pressed more late in the fight but Herring continued to control the action.
All three judges scored the fight 50-44 for Herring.
“The game plan is to box. I knoe Michael is a hard hitter, a tough guy,” Herring told BKFC’s Cyrus Fees after the match.
Herring improved to 2-0 with the win. The 40-year-old former U.S. Marine became the second pro boxing champion to win a bare knuckle title in the modern era after Austin Trout.
Cody Vidal Upsets Jomi Escoboza
In the BKFC 89 co-feature, Huntington Beach’s Cody Vidal dropped and stopped former title challenger Jomi Escoboza in the first round.
The taller Escoboza tried to control distance with his right jab as Vidal pressed. Vidal threw a double right hand that dropped Escoboza.
Escoboza was wobbly when he got up and tried to hold. Vidal connected with clean shots as Escoboza clutched for survival.
Escoboza fell a couple of times but ref Nick Berens ruled them as slips. Vidal continued his attack and Escboza went down again. This time, Berens counted and waved the fight off as Escoboza teetered.
Nahh a 3 count is diabolical 🤣 The Knucklemaniac Cody Vidal was on one tonight!#BKFC89 | Live NOW on DAZN pic.twitter.com/vIT1sp4Isg
— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) May 23, 2026
It’s a huge win for Vidal (4-1-1, 4 KOs), who extended his unbeaten streak to five fights and toppled a former title challenger in Escoboza (9-3).
Levi Costa Blitzes Chase Gormley
Brazil’s Levi Costa improved to 3-3 with a first-round stoppage of Bellator veteran Chase Gormley (1-2) in the BKFC 89 featured fight.
Costa’s speed and power were too much for the bigger Gormley.
Costa, fighting from the southpaw stance, stunned Gormley with a left early, with follow up lefts from the clinch before Gormley went down.
LEVI COSTA IS DONE IN 1! ☝️#BKFC89 | Live NOW on DAZN pic.twitter.com/12U4ACfmBj
— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) May 23, 2026
Costa continued to land lefts as Gormley came forward. The Brazilian stepped in with a right uppercut-left combo that dropped Gormley again. Gormley, with swelling on his forehead and under his left eye, was groggy when he got up and the fight was stopped.
It was Costa’s first bare knuckle fight since a stoppage defeat to top contender Leonardo Perdomo in December 2024. He’s been in tough in his bare knuckle career-his losses came to Perdomo, BKB champ Gustavo Trujillo, and Josh Copeland.
David Diaz Loses to Anthony Sanchez; Gets Engaged After Fight
BKFC fan favourite David Diaz was knocked down and bloodied by Anthony Sanchez but still came out a winner.
Sanchez stunned Diaz with a right early in round one as the two exchanged punches in the clinch. A follow up right floored Diaz.
Sanchez knocked Diaz down again in the first, and once more in the second.
A bloodied Diaz kept marching forward, much to the delight of the large crowd, and the two gladiators had some exciting exchanges. Sanchez was the sharper fighter throughout and prevailed by unanimous decision. Judges’ scores were 50-42, 49-43 and 48-44.
Diaz proposed to his girlfriend after the fight and she accepted.
The fight may have not went to plan, but the proposal did 🙌💍#BKFC89 | Live NOW | Exclusively on DAZN pic.twitter.com/yz5OztIXfM
— DAZN Combat Sports (@DAZNCombat) May 23, 2026
In other action, Eric Soto from nearby Palm Springs got up from an early knockdown to stop Pernell Stevens in a heavyweight brawl. Stevens went down twice. After the second knockdown, Stevens hunched over during the count, and veteran referee Ray Corona halted the bout.
Full results.
Jamel Herring def. Michael Larrimore-Unanimous Decision (
Cody Vidal def. Jomi Escoboza-TKO Round 1
Levi Costa def. Chase Gormley-TKO Round 1
Anthony Sanchez def. David Diaz-Unanimous Decision
Eric Soto def. Pernell Stevens-TKO Round 1
Evgenii Kurdanov def. Erik Lopez-TKO Round 2
Ryan Petersen def. Daniel Keepers-Unanimous Decision
Iman Williams def. Cody Kerr-KO Round 2
Keith Richardson def. Devon Schwan-TKO Round 2
Ricardo Talavera Jr. def. Victor Flor-KO Round 1
