From Cruiser to Bridger, we’ve got it all!
From new champions to new divisions, the bare knuckle action that took place from 200 to 220 pounds gave us plenty to talk about throughout the year. BYB saw an influx of talent after they acquired BKB, which caused them to open the Bridgerweight division. Keeping with the theme of our year in review, we’ll start with the lightest and work our way up.
BYB Super Cruiserweight
Champion: Marko Martinjak
Defeated Jerome Hatch via KO on January 18th
Defeated Kevin Greenwood via KO on May 4th
Defeated Brad Scott via KO on November 9th
Martinjak had some business to take care of early on finishing on the winning side of his trilogy with Jerome Hatch, before defeating Kevin Greenwood by devastating first round knockout in May. Then after the BYB-BKB merger it was announced that Martinjak’s 200-lb. division would be named “Super Cruiserweight”. Brad Scott would draw the short straw and face the seemingly unstoppable Martinjak. “The Emperor” would reign supreme and stomp out Scott in round one.
Contenders:
Kevin Greenwood suffered a pretty devastating knockout at the hands of the current champ, but in a bounce back performance beat up a very confident Tyler Ellife in an entertaining scrap to get himself back in the win column. With nobody having a clear case for a shot before him we very well could see him run it back.
BKFC Cruiserweight
The BKFC’s Cruiserweight division falls five pounds heavier at 205, and started the year with Lorenzo Hunt as champion. But after Hunt’s unsuccessful trip to heavyweight for that title, and the failed drug test that followed, the belt was vacated making way for a new champion.
Champion: Chris Camozzi
Defeated Sawyer Depee via KO on October 25th
Camozzi dropped a decision loss to the former champion Hunt in late 2023, however he came back with a vengeance in October of ‘24 when he knocked out Sawyer Depee in one round. A face-rearranging shot from Camozzi crowned him the new champion and gave us a candidate for knockout of the year.
BYB Bridgerweight
Another addition to the landscape made after the BKB-BYB merger, 220-lbs. became the limit for Bridgerweight.
Champion: Dan Podmore
“Big Pod” Started his year on the ultimate low losing his match with Richie Leak for the BKB Heavyweight championship. He won back a world title, when he stopped Carl Hobley at the end of the third round. Then after the merger, Podmore would take on Ryan Barratt for the newly minted Bridgerweight title winning after a sweet combination put down his adversary in round one.
Top Photo Courtesy of BYB.
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