Australian heavyweight prospect Haze Hepi will face former title challenger Sam Shewmaker on 3 October in Queensland, Australia. The bout headlines BKFC Fight Night Australia and will stream live on the BKFC+ App.
Hepi (3-1) will look for his second straight BKFC win after defeating Krzysztof Wisniewski at the inaugural BKFC Australia event in April. “The Huntsman” avenged a previous doctor’s stoppage loss to Wisniewski in Italy in October 2025.
Shewmaker (5-4-1) is no stranger to longtime bare knuckle fans. The Missouri native, known as “The Hillbilly Hammer”, has competed in BKFC since its 2018 inception.
Shewmaker lost a split decision to Arnold “AJ” Adams in a bout for the vacant BKFC heavyweight title in October 2018. The bout was the final of an eight-man tournament to crown the promotion’s first heavyweight champion.
Over the years, Shewmaker has battled a number of champions and former champions, including the likes of Adams, Joey Beltran and Chase Sherman, who went on to win the heavyweight title from Adams after a draw with Shewmaker.
Sam was stopped by Mick Terrill at BKFC’s first UK event in Wembley, but avenged a previous defeat to Josh Burns in his last BKFC bout in August 2024.
Shewmaker’s most famous bare knuckle moment came at BKFC 1 in 2018. He spectacularly knocked out MMA veteran Eric Prindle in a video that went viral with millions of views.
Hepi will be the favourite but he can’t look past the dangerous Shewmaker, a cagey veteran with a dangerous right hand.
Flanagan Returns in Co-Main Event
In the BKFC Fight Night Australia chief support, former pro boxing title challenger Mark Flanagan (0-1 bare knuckle record) takes on Jonathan Miller (2-2).
Flanagan also fought in the co-main event of April’s BKFC Australia event. He unsuccessfully debuted against Dilan Prasovic, who defeated him by TKO. The bout was stopped by the doctors between the first and second rounds.
Miller began his BKFC journey with consecutive stoppage wins against Stephon Reese and Dustin Long. He came up short against former title challenger Sawyer Depee and Bohdan Kotok. All of Miller’s bouts, win or loss, have ended by stoppage in the first or second round.
The featured fight pits unbeaten New Zealander Asher Jack (1-0) against debuting Jay Tonkin in an Australia v New Zealand match up. Visit BKFC.com for the updated fight card and ticket information.
‘The response from our first show in Australia in April of this year was tremendous and we’re very excited to return on October 3,” said BKFC President David Feldman.
“Haze Hepi looked sensational stopping Krzysztof Wisniewski in their rematch, but Sam Shewmaker is a true BKFC battle tested legend, he fought on our first show eight years ago and is coming to Australia to show he’s ready for another world title opportunity.”
