Combat sports notes: Las Cruces Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship called off -- for now

Rick Wright, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·3 min read

May 21—A June 16 Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship card at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, approved by the New Mexico Athletic Commission at its April meeting, will not happen.

BKFC spokesman Bernie Bahrmasel characterized the cancellation in an email to the Journal as a timing issue.

Bahrmasel also wrote that the organization expects to return to New Mexico — the site of two successful BKFC cards in the recent past — by August.

Meanwhile, BKFC junior-middleweight champion Luis Palomino, who was tentatively scheduled to defend his title against Las Cruces' Austin Trout at the Pan Am Center, instead will face challenger James Lilley on a June 23 BKFC card in Hollywood, Florida.

The BKFC also has a card scheduled for June 9 in Great Falls, Montana.

A Trout-Palomino fight was teased in the ring after Trout's victory by TKO (referee's stoppage) over Albuquerque's Diego Sanchez during a Feb. 17 BKFC card at Tingley Coliseum.

Trout, a former world boxing champion, has been enthusiastic about the possibility of continuing his bare-knuckle career after his victory over Sanchez.

David Feldman, the BKFC's founder, president and CEO, has been equally effusive about New Mexico's appetite for bare-knuckle fighting.

The BKFC's first card in New Mexico, at the Rio Rancho Events Center on Aug. 28, drew a modest crowd of 2,500. But Feldman was pleased with the crowd's wild enthusiasm.

Then, when the BKFC came to Tingley in February, the card drew a paid attendance of 6,792, with almost 8,000 people — including complimentary tickets — in the building. It was a record crowd and a record paid gate for the BKFC, then 35 events into its existence.

The BKFC, Feldman said two days before the Feb. 17 card, had found a home.

"This place, they love it," he said. "They love bare-knuckle; they love fighting in general. ... This is where we're gonna do a lot of fights."

PAYDAY: Moriarty MMA fighter Tim Means (32-15-1) earned $90,000 for his fight against Alex Morono on a May 13 UFC card in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to information released by the North Carolina Boxing and Combat Sports Commission and as reported by mmajunkie.com.

Morono (23-8) made double that amount — $90,000 as a fight purse plus a $90,000 win bonus. Morono defeated Means by second-round submission (guillotine choke).

Those figures reflect only amounts paid per contracts filed with the North Carolina commission, not sponsorships, performance bonuses, etc.

North Carolina is among the relatively few states that release such information; New Mexico and California also are among those.

Nevada, where the UFC is based and which stages more UFC fights than any other state, no longer releases fighter pay information.

OLD VS. NEW: In a fascinating heavyweight matchup on a June 3 UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas, Albuquerque's Don'Tale Mayes (9-5) is scheduled to face ultra-veteran and former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski (34-21).

Mayes trains at Jackson-Wink. Arlovski is well-known to Mayes' J-W coaches, having trained there from 2009-17 (approximately).

At 44, Arlovski is the oldest fighter on the current UFC roster. The Mayes fight would be his 40th as a UFC fighter. Jim Miller is the all-time leader with 41 UFC appearances.