Former BKFC light heavyweight champion Mike Richman will face Joe Elmore in a grudge match at Knucklemania, months after a Reddit video was posted showing a ringside altercation between the two fighters.
Knucklemania VI takes place on 7 February at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Last year, more than 17,000 fans attended Knucklemania V at the same venue.
As previously reported, Ben Rothwell defends the BKFC Heavyweight Title versus Andrei Arlovski in the main event.
Both Richman and Elmore have lost more than they’ve won recently. Richman was one of the sport’s most fearsome fighters before back-to-back title fight defeats to Lorenzo Hunt and David Mundell.
Richman rebounded with wins over Erick Lozano and Jared Warren before a one-sided loss to Josh Dyer. The former US Marine and Bellator MMA veteran’s ungloved ledger stands at 7-3 with one no contest. All wins have come by knockout.
Elmore is also for his punching power but can be outboxed. He’s lost four in a row since starting his bare knuckle career in 2020 with wins over Will Chope and Tom Shoaff. In his last bout, Elmore lost a split decision to boxing veteran Derrick Findley to slip to 2-4 (1 KO).
It may not be a championship level fight but it should deliver plenty of action. Richman is never in a bad scrap and Elmore may be crazy enough to try and stand in the pocket with the heavy-fisted strip club manager. And both men have earned a place in the spotlight at BKFC’s biggest event of the year.
Richman photo courtesy of BKFC
