BKFC made its hugely anticipated New England debut at the legendary Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.
(Photo Courtesy: BKFC)
On May 11th, BKFC 61 went down, with Jimmie Rivera and Daniel Straus headlining a stacked card. below is the official press release courtesy of Bernie Bahrmasel and BKFC.
In the BKFC-61 main event, former UFC headliner Jimmie “El Terror” Rivera defeated former Bellator MMA champion Daniel Straus via unanimous decision. Two judges scored the bout 50-45, while one had it 48-47, all in favor of the Ramsey, NJ product Rivera, who’s now 2-1-1 in the squared circle. Straus, who hails from Hollywood, FL, moves to 0-2.
“I wanted a finish, but I didn’t get it. Daniel Straus is tough. To everyone who came out here tonight, thank you so much. To all the moms, thank you so much – I hope you have a wonderful Sunday,” Rivera told the packed Mohegan Sun. “I’m always ready. Kai Stewart is always running. I want to see who the winner is of his fight with Bryan Duran at BKFC-62, and I want that belt.”
In the BKFC-61 co-main event, fellow Ramsey, NJ fighter Mike "The Lone Wolf" Trizano needed just 62 seconds to reign supreme in his hotly anticipated BKFC debut against former BKFC World Featherweight Championship challenger Louie “El Loco” Lopez of Great Falls, MT. Trizano, who won the UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter tournament, is now 1-0 following his TKO victory, while Lopez’s record moves to 3-4.
“I feel amazing. I want to thank everybody that supports me. I want to give a shoutout to my son. I wish you were here. This one was for him,” Trizano told the jam-packed Mohegan Sun. “Dude, this was awesome. I love this.”
Said David Feldman, Founder and President of BKFC at the post-fight press conference,“Great start here in New England at the Mohegan Sun. It was a good night for us. 5,700 people in attendance, which is a great crowd for our first show. The show was kind of messed up. We lost our main event, which we replaced with our co-main event. We lost a few fights on our undercard. It wasn't an easy card, but we did it. Packed house. Great fights, some not-so great fights."
“These guys go out there and fight their (expletive) off for me, you, and the fans. When we have a punk ass who comes in here, doesn’t even get hit and quits – that’s something this organization isn’t going to stand for. We’ve got a new award, which is Quitter of the Night and it goes to Chris Sarro. You’re a punk, and you can’t quit in this organization. If you go out there and get knocked out, that’s fine. If you fight your (expletive) off and you get knocked out, you’ll always have a job here. I don’t think the fans appreciate it, I don’t think the other fighters appreciate that. We don’t deserve that, so I had to point that out.”
“We already talked about coming back for another date here at Mohegan Sun in the fall, so we’ll be back soon.” BKFC 61 Fight Night Awards
Fight of the Night: Zach Calmus vs. Connor McKenna
Knockout of the Night: Mike Trizano
Quitter of the Night: Chris Sarro
In the BKFC-61 feature fight, New London, CT’s “Royal” Ryan Reber, the #1 contender in the BKFC bantamweight division, improved to 6-0 with a unanimous decision over Quintan “The Hitman” Foye of Reidsville, NC. The judges scored the fight 49-46, 50-45, 48-47, all in favor of Reber. Foye moves to 1-2 under the BKFC banner.
Indianapolis, IN strawweight upstart Natalie Gage was victorious in her BKFC debut. The ringside physician stopped her fight with Boston’s Sarah "Switch Kick" Click when a serious cut formed above Click’s eye. The bout was called to a halt at the conclusion of the second round. Click’s BKFC record moves to 0-3.
Former Bellator MMA champ Rick “Genghis” Hawn of Methuen, MA only needed 35 seconds to earn the victory in his highly anticipated BKFC debut against Stephen Stengel of Athol, MA in their light-heavyweight bout. Hawn, a member of the Team USA Olympic judo team in 2004, is the fourth Olympian to compete in BKFC, following Hector Lombard, Nico Hernandez and Alfredo Angulo. Stengel, a veteran of 32 pro MMA bouts, drops to 0-1.
Gloucester, MA’s Zach "Shark Attack" Calmus earned his third straight stoppage victory with a third-round knockout over Franklin County, VT’s Connor "The Irish Warrior" McKenna in their heavyweight slugfest. Calmus dropped McKenna three times before the fight was stopped at 1:49 in the third frame. Calmus is now 4-2; McKenna moves to 0-2.
Pat "The Brick" Brady of Philadelphia, PA recorded five knockdowns – three in the first round, two in the second round – to win his BKFC debut with a second-round technical knockout over Williamsport, PA’s Lewis "The Beast" Rumsey in heavyweight action. Time of the stoppage was 1:21 in the second frame. Rumsey is now 1-4.
Hudson, FL’s Scott "The Bad Poet" Roberts was victorious in his fight with Chris "Golden Gloves" Sarro of Elsworth, ME after Sarro injured his hand early in their matchup, forcing the referee to call a stop to their cruiserweight bout just 27 seconds into the first round. Roberts is 1-0, while Sarro’s record falls to 2-5.
Pat "The Gorilla Ninja" Casey of Springfield, MA knocked down Bridgeport, CT’s Sam "Super Saiyan" Watford twice enroute to earning the unanimous decision in their middleweight showdown. All three judges scored it 50-43 for Casey, who climbs to 1-1. Watford drops to 0-1.
In the first bare knuckle fight in Connecticut history, Manchester, CT’s Dan “The Tower Dog” Pettit dropped Dylan "The Afro Samurai" Felion of Rutland, VT four times before their featherweight fight was called to a stop in the third round. Time of the stoppage was 36 seconds into the third stanza. Both fighters were making their BKFC debut.
BKFC 61 Main Card Results
Jimmie Rivera def. Daniel Straus via Unanimous Decision (50-45x2, 48-47)
Mike Trizano def. Louie Lopez via TKO in Round 1 (1:02)
Ryan Reber def. Quintan Foye via Unanimous Decision (49-46, 50-45, 48-47)
Natalie Gage def. Sarah Click via TKO in Round 2 (2:00)
Rick Hawn def. Stephen Stengel via KO in Round 1 (0:35)
Zach Calmus def. Connor McKenna via KO in Round 3 (1:49)
Pat Brady def. Lewis Rumsey via TKO in Round 2 (1:21)
BKFC 61 Preliminary Card Results
Scott Roberts def. Chris Sarro via TKO in Round 1 (0:27)
Pat Casey def. Sam Watford via Unanimous Decision (50-43x3)
Dan Pettit def. Dylan Felion via TKO in Round 3 (0:36)
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