BKFC Fight Night Newcastle: The Showdown That Delivered
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is a promotion that’s on the rise. Everything surrounding it is on a high level, and it is only a matter of time before it becomes a mainstream combat promotion, if it isn’t one already. Testimony to this claim of ours lies in the aftermath of the BKFC Fight Night Newcastle. An event that fully delivered on all expectations. Fight after fight were some of the best ever seen in this competition and beyond it. UFC needs to take a few pages from the way BKFC does some things. Let’s go through all the fights that marked this card.
Garside vs. Taylor
The championship bout of the BKFC Fight Night Newcastle is everything that makes this combat sport amazing. When it was all said and done, the night belonged to Bradley Taylor. Since yesterday, he has been called the BKFC United Kingdom bantamweight champion. This is the inaugural title, and he is the first person to carry the mantle. Lewis “The Leprechaun” Garside was a slight favorite entering into this fight, but he was no match for Taylor. Bradley set the tone for the fight early one, and kept the right throughout all the rounds. The only knockdown between them two belonged to him, and when the scorecards came out at the end of the night, it was enough to land him a unanimous decision win.
While BKFC is still in its infant stage, its popularity, at least in England, cannot be denied. The main event of the evening played out in front of a packed Walker Activity Dome in Newcastle. The entire event was sold out despite its availability on the company’s streaming app. Everything was streamed, from the weigh-ins, until the last bout. While the rest of the card was quite impressive too, it’s no secret that Taylor’s title winning performance was the performance of the night. Taylor entered the bout weighing less than his opponent, but the slight difference played no role when it came to exchanging fists.
For everyone watching the fight it was clear that Taylor did more than enough across all rounds to secure the win. His performance earned him the title of BKFC United Kingdom bantamweight champion and he is the first person holding the belt. In his next bout he will be defending it, and we are sure that all the fans of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship are eagerly waiting for that event. Garside did his best work, and while he had the size advantage, and more experience, it was not enough on the night to secure a win. The fight was competitive, we’re not arguing that, but in key moments Taylor retained control making this win a clear one. While holding the belt certainly feels surreal for Taylor, with the way BKFC rapidly moves, he will be better off coming back to reality and preparing for his next fight, as the number of contenders will grow in coming months. If you want to keep a track on what’s coming next in this promotion, having an eye out on all upcoming BKFC events odds could help you with that.
Keen vs. Martin
Lewis Keen is a punching machine. He shares his nickname with UFCs own Merab Dvalishvili as both are known as The Machine. Keen proved as much with his win at the Newcastle Fight Night when he took down Stew Martin in the co-main event of the evening. Martin holds the nickname Tank, and he did enough to justify it, holding his own for four rounds. Yet, Keen was able to finish him with a superb hit at the 1:27 mark in the fourth round. Keen is a fighter on the rise, and this result puts him on the trajectory to claim a shot at the BKFC United Kingdom lightweight belt. Jonny Graham is the current holder, and we are sure he would relish this challenge when the opportunity arises.
While Keen was not an outright favourite for this one, he did enough strategically to keep the flow of the bout going his way. While bare knuckle bouts are straightforward affairs that end up in KO/TKO fashion, there’s more to it than just exchanging fists. That’s why, if you plan to bet on this combat sport, you need to look at this bout as the best example of the way in which a bout could go, and also use some experts’ guide on the best strategy for BKFC betting. Strategy matters, because that’s just what Keen had in this bout.
He let the fight go the distance after settling himself into it during the first few rounds. Once settled he attacked with authority and wrapped up the affair in the fourth, when everyone started to think that this one will go the distance.
What Else Made The Card Great?
The main and co-main event were great, and certainly worth waiting for. What made the wait more than bearable is the fact that the entire card was delivered. Harrison Cave vs. Danny Moir was a rare bout that went the distance. While the crowd hates short events, there’s hiding it they like more early knockouts than prolonged tactical bouts. What the crowd hates is the draws, and that’s just how this bout ended. Fairly or not, that’s up to you to decide, as the judges scored it that way. Cory Chapman was the one who found it as his responsibility to make it up to the crowd for the bout that ended as a draw. While everyone saw him as the fighter close to a defeat, after Jack Blair landed him on the ground three times, Chapman said no! With one second left in the second round he took Blair out and claimed a win via TKO.
Bouts as these are what makes BKFC so interesting to watch. During one card there isn’t a single dull moment. Fans get sudden finishes, night long pressure fights, momentum swings, and sometimes all of it inside one fight. As far as Newcastle Fight Night goes, we’re full of impressions, but it is clear that the fight that carries the biggest load into some of the next events is Keen’s victory as it has title implications. He not only secured another win, but showed that he is a contender for Graham’s belt. While pre-match predictions for BKFC Newcastle had him as slight favourite, he will not be one when he enters the title bout, but we will be watching how it plays out.
New Faces on the Map
As we said at the beginning, BKFC is still a young promotion. It is expected that they attract more new faces to the game as time moves one. At Newcastle Fight Night we had a chance to witness a couple of new fighters making their mark on this combat sport. The one that left the best impression is without a doubt Dylan “The Cramlington Cobra” Fail. His unanimous decision win over Liam Hutchinson was a sight to behold. The best part is that he is a home grown fighter, so he gave additional reasons for the fans in the stands to be happy about in addition to Taylor’s title win.
Other fighters to make their debuts in Newcastle are Harry Bray, Chris Burton, Mickey Nolan, KJ Metcalfe, James “Sugar Man” Walker, and “Savage” Sally McDonald. BKFC is adding new faces to their rosters, and we are sure that some of these names are destined for stardom. Yet, one thing that can be taken against the promotion is that they still haven’t sorted out their divisions. Some bouts had substantial differences in weight, making them easy to predict in which direction they go. Yet, we remain sure that in the future, this will be sorted out.
At the end of the day, the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship delivered on all expectations at Newcastle Fight Night. The arena was sold out, allowing both seasoned veterans and newcomers to show off at a packed venue. The fighters also gave their best and we witnessed everything from a draw, to decisions, medical stoppages, thrown towels, and some absolute brutal finishes. After all of it was said and done, we came out with a new champion, a fresh title challenger, and a few names who have recorded their first win fighting under the BKFC banner.
After this night, we are sure that the sport has many new fans, and people willing to wager on this combat sport. With the amount of types in which a fight can end, as we have witnessed during this evening, and new betting markets arising by the day, we feel obligated to tell you a couple of things about:
How to bet on Bare Knuckle Boxing
As far as combat sports go, BKFC is one of the fastest developing promotions out there. The combat industry has a lot of space for development and bare knuckle boxing found its niche. It comes with unique rules, and its fights are some of the most exciting in combat sports. Because of this, it appears that this combat sport is tailored for sports betting. It offers different opportunities from let’s say MMA and UFC, or boxing.
Bare Knuckle Boxing Betting Markets
With bare knuckle boxing you can wager on pre-match events, but there’s also live betting available. As far as available sports betting markets go, these are the most popular ones:
- Moneyline bets: As in most contemporary bets, moneyline comes first as it is a simple bet on a winner of a picked event. With moneyline, what matters is the win, and not the method in which it is achieved.
- Method of victory: This is where stakes get upped and the odds are higher. With the method of victory it is important to select the winning fighter but also to guess the method in which he will achieve a win. There’s a few ways a win in bare knuckle boxing can be achieved and KO/TKO, doctor stoppage, and via decision are the ways.
- Round Betting and Total Rounds: If you opt for round betting, it is all about guessing in which round the bout is going to end. As far as total rounds go, it is a simple under/over wager, where you guess how many rounds a fight will have based on the line delivered by the bookmaker. For bouts with heavy hitters it is always wise to play under. When you have tactical fighters in the ring, you opt for over.
- Prop bets and same game multis: Some bookmakers have prop bets that allow users to wager on whether the fight goes the distance, or how many knockdowns there will be during a single round. For players who want to win more, there are options to combine different bets into one slip regardless if they come from a single bout or from different ones.
BKFC Betting Tips
Bare knuckle boxing is not your average combat sport. It’s brutal, and it is the closest thing to a simple street fist fight. That’s why when you’re making your picks, always pay attention to fighters who have previous bare knuckle experience, even if they’re facing a fighter with much bigger experience in some other combat sport.
Another aspect of bare knuckle boxing is clinching. The fighters are allowed to enter the clinch and land hits while they are in it. Because of this, fighters who previously fought in MMA or Muay Thai have better chances than conventional boxers.
Also, fighters with a lot of wear and tear are usually more prone to facial injuries. So, if you see a fighter who has a lot of scar tissue on his face, you need to know that old wounds will reopen quicker. Considering that a bad cut will cause a medical stoppage this is something to have in mind when betting on BKFC.
Lastly, you need to wager more on quick fighters who love to start their fights in fashion. When you know that each BKFC fight starts on the scratch line, a fighter with quick hands and a hungry mentality holds the initial advantage.
