New Mexico held its first-ever Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship on Aug. 27 at the Rio Rancho Events Center, with the women proving to be a much more exciting watch than the men. New Mexico's own John Dobson, Eric Dobson, Jayme Hinshaw and Will Santiago each took home a win throughout the night.
The event ran for about three and a half hours and ended with quick matches during the headlining fights. Christine Ferea took out Taylor Starling in a mere 47 seconds to retain her title as flyweight champion. John Dobson took out Ryan Benoit in a mere 1:40.
The crowd was overwhelmingly excited and into the action as fighters danced down the catwalk in bright, flashy outfits to music of every possible style, including Celtic Irish music.
The longest matches of the night were from Jeremy Smith v. Donald Sanchez and Brad Kelly v. Isaac Vallie-Flagg. Each fight lasted all five rounds, but both ended with unanimous decisions from the judges in favor of Smith and Kelly. This proved devastating for local fans as both Vallie-Flagg and Sanchez are from Albuquerque.
In terms of local victories, though, John Dobson and Hinshaw both walked away with wins against Benoit and Cassie “The Joker” Robb, respectively, making a triumphant win for Gotham and Albuquerque alike. Santiago and Eric Dobson also defended the city's name by defeating their opponents in the first round.
The theatrics of the event were similarly intense with lights flying around the crowd, fog coating the floor as competitors entered the catwalk and men yelling into microphones in the center of the ring while shooting t-shirts into the crowd with the help of the Bare Knuckle Bombshells in between events.
The female fighters significantly outperformed the men in the ring with choreographed catwalks, shiny skirts flying and much more brutal fighting than the men. They were the most memorable part of the night despite making up only two of the 11 matches. The night ending with a women's match felt intentional, as to reward viewers for sitting through more than their fair share of the men’s underwhelming fights.
The next Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship event in the United States is on Sep. 10 in Great Falls, Montana. You can keep up with the BKFC’s schedule on their website bareknuckle.tv.
Madeline Pukite is the managing editor at the Daily Lobo. They can be contacted at managingeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @maddogpukite
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