Eddie Alvarez defeats Chad Mendes in bare knuckle debut, Mendes retires at BKFC 41

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, April 29, 2023, for BKFC 41, going down live from the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.

Headlining the event is a an epic 185 lbs clash between Mike Perry and former multi-organization MMA world champion (Strikeforce & UFC) Luke Rockhold. Perry had gone 2-0 thus far into his bare knuckle career, while Rockhold made his bare knuckle debut tonight.

Co-headlining the event was also a very exciting affair, this one coming at 165 lbs between another former multi-organization MMA world champion (Bellator & UFC) in Eddie Alvarez, who made his bare knuckle debut tonight opposing three-time UFC title challenger Chad Mendes.

Continue reading to see how our co-main event of the evening went down:

Official Result: Eddie Alvarez def. Chad Mendes via split decision (47-46 a, 46-47, 47-46)

Mendes opens up the bout trying to find his range with the jab, which he’s landing to the body. He lands a hard overhand right midway through the opening round, and the two get caught in an exchange with each man landing not long thereafter.

Mendes drops Alvarez with a left hook in the second, his speed is just incredible.

Alvarez drops Mendes to begin the third round, though Mendes is right back to his feet for the eight count.

Mendes lands some vicious combinations in the fourth, though Alvarez stays tough and remains on his feet through it. This has turned into a good, competitive fight.

Alvarez hits Mendes in the fifth as the referee was breaking the two up, and it appeared to faze Mendes, as he was dropped shortly following via a combination thrown by Alvarez.

Once the eight count is up, Alvarez pursues Mendes and gets dropped again himself.

This was a very entertaining showcase between these two tonight that could’ve gone either way. Each man looked great, and each man secured two knockdowns; neither deserved to lose this fight.

Congratulations to ‘The Underground King’ Eddie Alvarez on this victory in his bare knuckle debut.

Chad Mendes also retires from combat sports following the bout after a long career. Thank you Chad ‘Money’ Mendes, your career was always very fun to watch.

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Brady Ordway

I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!

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