Here’s some bare knuckle news you may have missed from December.
Mark Godbeer Victorious at Warlords BKB 4
UK fighting legend Mark Godbeer was victorious in the main event at Warlords BKB 4 held on 13 December at The Blake Hall in Bridgwater.
The UFC and Bellator veteran defeated Dean Rees by 2nd knockout. Rees seemed to win round one before Godbeer ended the fight with a huge right hand in round two.
Godbeer improved to 6-1 (5 KOs) in bare knuckle with the win. He’s won 3 in a row since a loss in Poland’s Gromda organisation in 2022.
“The Hand of God” previously held the Valor Bare Knuckle belt after winning a four-man tournament in 2019. Valor BK was the promotion founded by MMA legend Ken Shamrock.
Godbeer has an amazing story. A late bloomer, Godbeer didn’t start martial arts training until age 25, when he decided to turn his life around. He fought for Bellator and in the UFC before switching to bare knuckle in 2019.
Now 42, Godbeer continues to compete in bare knuckle. He had retired but changed his mind and is now in the midst of a late career revival.
Bawden Defeats Symes
In the Warlords BKB 4 co-main event, James Bawden won a unanimous three-round decision over Tom Symes in a matchup between combat sports veterans making their bare knuckle debuts.
Stevie Devenport improved to 4-0 with a stoppage win over veteran Nathan Massey.
For full Warlords 4 results, check out Tapology.
The next Warlords BKB event, Warlords 5, takes place on 14 March in Bridgwater. Check out Warlords Promotion on Instagram and Facebook for more info.
Riot at Glasgow Bare Knuckle Event
Impact BKB held its second event in Scotland, also on 13 December.
The event was unfortunately cut short because of an incident involving spectators.
The Glasgow Times reported that video footage seemed to “show a group of people clashing at the top of a set of stairs”.
Police and emergency services responded to the incident. Luckily, “there were no reports of any injuries”.
Bad to the Bone Holds Final Event
Bad to the Bone held its final event in Stoke-on-Trent on 6 December. The promotion was officially acquired by BKB earlier this week.
Joe Cokayne improved to 2-0 with a stoppage win over BKB veteran Tony Barratt in a cruiserweight contest.
For full results, check out boxrec.
Jones Defeats Bercier at Fusion Fight League
Finally, Fusion Fight League held an event in Great Falls, Montana last month.
Fusion events feature bare knuckle boxing, MMA, and also Muay Thai.
Mike Jones improved to 3-1 with a unanimous decision over fellow BKFC veteran Leo Bercier in the cruiserweight main event. Jones’s only loss was to Erick Lozano in his pro debut.
Dallis Davison improved to 4-4 with a win over Erik Lopez. Another BKFC vet Billy Wagner (5-1) triumphed over Charon Spain by first-round stoppage.
Godbeer photo courtesy of Valor BK
