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Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
What to know ahead of Tennessee's first bare knuckle boxing card?
Professional bare knuckle boxing comes to Tennessee for the first time on June 21 as The Pinnacle in Nashville hosts one of combat sports' newest phenomena, continuing a series a summer fights which kicked off with PFL's World Tournament on June 12. The path was paved for the Volunteer state's first-ever sanctioned bare knuckle boxing event when a unified set of rules were approved by the Tennessee Athletic Commission, going into effect earlier this year. Advertisement Ahead of BKB's "Music City Brawl," here's all you need to know about bare knuckle boxing's debut in Tennessee. Tickets for BKB bare knuckle boxing in Nashville Tickets for bare knuckle boxing at The Pinnacle are available here. Buy tickets to BKB 42 in Nashville What time is bare knuckle boxing card in Nashville? BKB's bare knuckle boxing card at The Pinnacle will kick off at 6 p.m. (CT), with two preliminary fights preceding the main card, which begins at 7 p.m. (CT). Fight card start: 6 p.m. CT When was bare knuckle boxing legalized in Tennessee? The first step toward bare knuckle boxing's legalization in Tennessee came in July 2024 when the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), which the Tennessee Athletic Commission is a member of, approved a unified set of rules for the sport. Advertisement The TAC had previously been presented with data on bare knuckle boxing three years ago, but at the time the commission was not ready to move forward with the implementation of a set of rules. Following the ABC's approval last year, Tennessee's commission reviewed and ultimately established the unified rules as it made the decision to regulate the sport. The rules went into effect in Tennessee on March 5 after a rule-making hearing, opening the door for Tennessee's first sanctioned bare knuckle boxing card. More: Derrick Lewis planning Broadway celebration ahead of UFC fight in Nashville Bare knuckle boxing Nashville fight card Main card LT Nelson vs. Sam Liera Javon Wright vs. Carlos Guerra Jamie Driver vs. Helen Peralta Ike Villanueva vs. Eric Olsen Marko Martinjak vs. Maurice Morris Jarome Hatch vs. Cody East Luis Morales vs. Luis Guerrero Advertisement Preliminary fights Devin Wallace vs. Cody Cooper Caleb Austin vs. Nate Williams How to watch bare knuckle boxing in Nashville? Tennessee's first sanctioned bare knuckle boxing card will stream live on VICE in the U.S. and Canada, while talkSPORT will air the card in the U.K. and Ireland. We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn't influence our coverage. Harrison Campbell covers boxing for The Tennessean and high school sports for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@ and follow him on Twitter @hccamp. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: BKB Nashville: Tickets, time for bare knuckle boxing's Tennessee debut
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bare knuckle boxing makes Tennessee debut in Nashville
Blood soaked the canvas of the three-sided ring within The Pinnacle in Nashville following nine high-action bare knuckle boxing fights on June 21, the first to ever be sanctioned in Tennessee. A spirited crowd filled the room to witness history, as BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing became the first to put on a professional bare knuckle fight card since the Tennessee Athletic Commission (TAC) approved unified rules for the sport in March. Advertisement 'We are waiting patiently as states become more interested in bringing bare knuckle, so Tennessee was always a state (and) Nashville in particular was a place that we had our eye on, because we just felt that they had fight fans here and they just really were a little bit starved for a good event,' BKB CEO Greg Bloom said. 'So we're happy to bring it to town.' MORE: Derrick Lewis planning Broadway celebration ahead of UFC fight in Nashville As bare knuckle boxing has grown in popularity in recent years, so has new opportunity for fighters looking to make a name in an ever-growing combat sports landscape. Caleb Austin and Devin Wallace, each fighting out of Wildside Combat Sports in Clarksville, made their bare knuckle debuts on the card, while former UFC fighter Ike Villanueva has carved a new path outside of mixed martial arts with BKB. Advertisement 'It was an honor to come here and put on a great show in the first card here," Villanueva said after a first-round TKO win. "I'm (on a) high right now because it is a lot of hard work I put in to get this ... "Being a former UFC star coming here and making a name, this is my house … with BKB we started in gymnasiums, now we're here in The Pinnacle. Beautiful arena, I love it here and this is the place for it to be.' How bare knuckle boxing came to Tennessee With professional bare knuckle boxing increasing in profile, so have nationwide discussions regarding the sanctioning of the sport. Those discussions began in Tennessee three years ago; at the time, the TAC was not ready to move forward with official sanctioning. Advertisement And while bare knuckle boxing has drawn its fair share of criticism in regard to fighter safety, Bloom says the bloody nature of the sport is misleading when compared to the actual effects it has on the brain. "There are two major companies that do bare knuckle fights, and both of them have done a study from fight one until these fights tonight of every single fight that's happened," Bloom said. "And the medical data has shown out that bare knuckle fighting is five times less traumatically injurious than MMA and four times less than boxing. Those are the facts." Sanctioning discussions reemerged in July 2024 when the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), of which the TAC is a member, approved a unified set of rules for bare knuckle boxing. Tennessee's athletic commission reviewed and ultimately implemented the unified rules in its decision to sanction the sport. Following a rulemaking hearing the rules went into effect on March 5. Lowrawnt T 'Smash' Nelson gestures to the crowd after winning during the BKB super middleweight championship fight against Sam Liera at The Pinnacle in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, June 21, 2025. MORE: Former heavyweight champ Oliver McCall fights to draw at Country Box event in Nashville Advertisement BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing was quick to capitalize upon the sport's official sanctioning in Tennessee, looking to provide Nashville fight fans with their first taste of action in its patented trigon ring, with seven current or former BKB champions on the card. 'I think there's a very rich fight fan base here in Nashville, so we're happy to expose them to something new and again, hopefully they find it more exciting than what's coming to town," Bloom said. "And next time we come, we'll do it bigger and better.' Bloom isn't the only one who's eyeing a future BKB event in Nashville. Two-division BKB champion Lorawnt-T Nelson avenged his lone career loss in the main event with a first-round stoppage of Sam Liera, and he hopes it won't be his last title defense in Tennessee. 'It's amazing man, especially out here in Nashville, Tennessee, baby," Nelson said. "Music City, it's fun. I've been walking around, enjoying the food, enjoying the people and this is a great spot. Hopefully we can come back here again.' Advertisement Harrison Campbell covers boxing for The Tennessean and high school sports for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@ and follow him on Twitter @hccamp. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee hosts professional bare knuckle boxing for first time
ABC News
30-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Proposed bare-knuckle boxing match in Perth sparks debate
The WA Combat Sports Commission says it has received a preliminary application to hold a bare-knuckle fight in Perth, understood to be planned for July. The commission, part of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Creative Industries, has responsibility for the regulation of all so-called combat sports, including boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts. Chair of the commission, former WA health minister Bob Kucera, told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth the commission first received an application for bare-knuckle fighting to be approved as a contact sport about six months ago. He said the commission subsequently developed a set of rules fight promoters would have to comply with. "In conjunction with … the combat sports industry, we put together a set of rules which went up to the previous [sports] minister, Minister Templeman, for approval," he said. "They were approved. He said permits had to comply with this particular set of rules. "The rules here are very different to the other [combat] sports because in this particular discipline … they don't have any padding on their hands," he said. "And the only strikes that are allowed are with the hands. The commission has received its first application, which Mr Kucera said would be scrutinised. He said a raft of rules would apply if the application was approved. They included requiring participants to have a minimum of seven years of fighting and 10 professional bouts behind them. Two doctors must be present at the ringside and if a boxer is knocked down, the bout must stop. He said boxers would also have to have serology tests to make sure they had no bloodborne diseases, and must get clearance from a doctor if there was any history of concussion. Mr Kucera said he understood many would regard the idea of bare-knuckle fighting with distaste, but he believed it was better for the government to regulate the practice rather than banning it outright. "In countries where they've said, 'we're going to ban this kind of thing', what happens is it goes underground, and then you have no control at all over it," he said. "If indeed it is approved, it is highly controlled. "And the level of injuries we see in these things are probably less than what you get on the football field, because these people defend themselves." Premier Roger Cook said that while the sport was not his "cup of tea", he agreed it was better to regulate the events. "It's important that the Combat Sports Commission can make sure that we don't drive combat sports underground," Mr Cook said. Numerous members of the community have slammed the idea, including WA president of the Australian Medical Association, Michael Page. "We know that any sport that involves repetitive knocks to the head — and this is quite clearly that — puts people at risk of not only acute concussion and acute brain injury, but also chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is where people, years after they've been involved in these sports, progressively develop personality changes, memory difficulties and dementia." Nationals WA deputy leader Peter Rundle also objected to the WA government approving such an event. "The premier and the government seem to be sanctioning and normalising that violence." Callers to ABC Radio Perth also objected. "This is beyond insane," caller Branko said. "Look at the rates of domestic violence, and I would probably not accept any nonsense about this not having any influence on boys. It does." Caller Sheila said she was "absolutely appalled". "We are rightly spending millions on domestic violence," she said. "We are trying to educate our children that violence is not the right way, and then the government subsidise this bare-knuckle fighting." But caller Alex was a supporter. "If you want to hop in a ring and hurt yourself, why not? We're not a nanny state."
