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Former UFC and Invicta FC veteran Pearl Gonzalez has booked her first bare-knuckle fight as she’s scheduled to face Charisa Sigala at the upcoming BKFC 18 card on June 26.
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Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Four title fights will highlight BKFC 18 in June including the return of heavyweight champion Joey Beltran as well as several ex-UFC fighters in action including Thiago Alves, Hector Lombard and Joe Riggs.
The event will take place in Miami with a date and location for the card to be announced in the coming days.
At the top of the card, Beltran will defend his BKFC heavyweight title against Sam Shewmaker, who comes into the fight following a win over Bobo O’Bannon in his most recent appearance in the ring. Shewmaker is 4-1-1 overall in bare-knuckle competition and he’s been part of the promotion since it first launched in 2018.
Frank Tate jumped from the prelims to the main event on short notice, replacing an injured Dillon Cleckler in the BKFC 17 main event, where he dominated and stopped Josh Burns in the third round.
There was some controversy in the first round when Burns (5-5, 5 KO) went down, which appeared to be more of a slip than a true knockdown. But what happened from there was not controversial. Tate (1-1-1, 1 KO) repeatedly caught Burns and dropped him hard in the second, with Burns going back to the corner looking positively shell-shocked at the power in Tate’s right hand.
Lake Sun Leader
A lot has changed for local legend Sam “Hillbilly Hammer” Shewmaker in the past nearly three years. Since competing in the first legally sanctioned bare knuckle fight in the United States in 131 years back on June 2, 2018, Shewmaker has continued to fight and stay victorious. This success has led to a major accomplishment for Shewmaker, as he will now be fighting for the World Heavyweight Title on May 21.
Hailing from Gravois Mills, Shewmaker has been a local favorite ever since making his fighting debut. In the years since his debut, he says it has certainly been an interesting ride. He says that he has been fortunate enough to be able to travel to many different areas of the world, from the Gulf Coast to Mexico. The prize pools for his fights started small and have gradually increased through bigger fights and sponsorships. To put it simply, Shewmaker is the real deal and is one of the faces of Bare Knuckle Fighting.