It took him some time but David Mundell has found his home at the top of the BKFC middleweight division.
Like most fighters in bare knuckle this sport wasn’t where they originally set out to be, but it’s where they should’ve been all along. That is the case for BKFC Middleweight Champion David Mundell.
After a 10-5 professional MMA Career “Redneck”, made his BKFC debut when he faced off with Drew Lipton and it didn’t take long for him to leave his mark. He stopped him in under two minutes.
After another quick outing five months later against Ronnie Forney, Mundell would venture up to cruiserweight to face UFC veteran Hector Lombard, in a bout with serious title implications. While his power was still evident even up a weight class, the stocky and powerful Lombard would eventually come away with the decision, leading to him eventually becoming the inaugural cruiserweight champion.
Mundell would return back to 185 and collect wins over Julian Lane and Stanislav Grosu. Ranked at number 1 and on the verge of a title shot of his own, against David Simpson, "Redneck" would remind everyone just how dangerous he is, stopping Simpson in round five.
Mundell would move in weight again, this time all the way to 175, 30 pounds lighter from his only loss. Still a highly rated contender, Mundell would immediately fight for the undisputed title at his new weight against interim champion Francesco Ricchi.
And just like when he moved from MMA to bare knuckle, moving from 205 to 175, Redneck had found his home.
A hellacious shot in round three put Ricchi flat on his back and with that rocket of a left hand Mundell could call himself a world champion. A journey across two sports and four weight classes had finally paid off, Mundell was on top of the middleweight division.
Waiting in the weeds was another of the game's elite. Mike Richman, who if not for the punch of the century from Lorenzo Hunt, was well on his way to becoming the light heavyweight champion. He had returned to 175 aiming to collect the belt that eluded him earlier that year.
But the champ was up to the challenge. The cliche of "becoming the champ is one thing, it's a whole other thing to defend it" didn't apply to Mundell. He finished Richman in the second round.
Having not only won his championship but now having defended it, Mundell was turning heads as well as opponents lights off asserting himself as one of the game's very best. He would successfully defend his title one more time at the end of 2023, against knockout artist Doug Coltrane.
Looking nearly unstoppable at 175, Mundell turned his attention to another middleweight making headway through the sport, “Platinum” Mike Perry.
While Mundell was winning and defending his belt, Perry was being billed as the top star of BKFC. Despite being a world champion with an 8-1 record and six knockouts, Redneck is still looking for that one fight that will make him a household name. And if Perry wants to truly be looked at as a world-class bare knuckler, a champion, he must go through Mundell. Add in the fact that there’s history between the two with this pair matching up in MMA both as amateurs and as pros you have all the necessary parts for a monumental clash.
But the work isn’t done yet, on October 12th at BKFC 67, Mundell will once again have his title on the line against Danny Christie. A fight not just for his gold, but to keep his place in the Perry Sweepstakes. After a 10-year professional career, Mundell has finally found where he is supposed to be, King of the middleweight division.
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