Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship returned on Friday evening for BKFC 22 which featured two championship bouts.
Two titles were on the line as Hector Lombard looked to defend his cruiserweight title for the first time against Lorenzo Hunt and Luis Palomino defended his lightweight title against Dat Nguyen.
The bareknuckle event filled with MMA veterans took place at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Fla., and aired on BKFC TV and FITE TV.
Lombard (3-1 BKFC) and Hunt (6-1 BKFC) finally settled the score after their heated rivalry began with a brawl after BKFC 18. Undefeated under the BKFC banner, Lombard defeated Joe Riggs to become BKFC cruiserweight champion. On Friday, he put his newly-claimed title on the line against Hunt, who proved to be too much to handle.
Throughout the contest, Hunt utilized his range and footwork to stick and move on Lombard over the course of five rounds. When openings were presented, Hunt sat on his punches and stuck Lombard with hard strikes, opening cuts around the eye.
Lombard, a former Bellator MMA champion, was never out of the fight and made it an interesting bout. He had his moments of success and won a couple of rounds behind his power punching.
However, when it was all said and done, the judges scored the contest in Hunt’s favor with scores of 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46.
Hunt entered Friday’s championship bout on an all-stoppage, four-fight winning streak. Victories over Erick Lozano, Davian Green, Rob Morrow, and Josh Dyer propelled him into this main event title fight.
The co-main event saw lightweight champ Palomino (5-0 BKFC) make it five wins in a row, as he picked up a unanimous decision victory to retain his lightweight title in his return to action following hospitalization due to a serious bout with COVID-19.
The official results of BKFC 22 include:
MAIN CARD
- Lorenzo Hunt def. Hector Lombard via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) – for cruiserweight title
- Luis Palomino def. Dat Nguyen via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-45) – for lightweight title
- Britain Hart def. Pearl Gonzalez via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
- Gustavo Trujillo def. Mike Kyle via knockout – Round 1, 0:34
- Marcus Brimage vs. Will Shutt declared a split draw (49-45, 46-48, 47-47)
- Howard Davis def. Rusty Crowder via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
- Arthur Walcott-Ceesay def. Joshua Alvarez via unanimous decision (48-45, 48-45, 50-44)
- Montaser Aboughaly def. Cage Noah via knockout – Round 2, 0:46
PRELIMINARY CARD
- James Rodriguez def. Brian Maxwell via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:28
- Peter Peraza def. Manuel Moreira via unanimous decision (48-45, 48-45, 49-45)
- Tyler Randall def. Darwin Bonilla via unanimous decision (48-45, 48-45, 48-45)
By MMA Junkie Staff | November 12, 2021
