BKFC star Lorenzo Hunt captured the promotion’s cruiserweight championship in one of the most bizarre rounds in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship history.
Emanating from the Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, LA, Hunt faced Quentin Henry in the BKFC 30 main event to crown a new cruiserweight titleholder. As the fight began, Hunt sprang off the scratch line, immediately throwing hands in an early attempt to put Henry away. Seconds in, Henry was pushed to the ropes where Hunt appears to trip, taking Henry down with him. As Lorenzo Hunt lays on top of his opponent, he appears to throw a strike while Henry is flat on his back.
The fight was halted as BKFC reviewed the tape to confirm whether or not an illegal strike had landed. This also allowed Henry time to recover. After multiple minutes, Henry was ready to toe the line in a restart of the main event after footage of the alleged illegal strike was inconclusive. The two men fought into the third round where a flurry of strikes by Lorenzo Hunt dropped Henry with 35-seconds left. Unable to answer the referee’s count, Dan Miragliotta called for the stoppage.
The ultimate outcome did not matter, as Hunt was crowned the winner at 1:36 of Round 3. During the history of BKFC, he became the only two-division champion.
Many fans on Twitter were confused by the lack of disqualification for Hunt who had appeared to throw a blatantly illegal strike. However, multiple replays showed by BKFC were inconclusive as to whether the strike by Hunt actually landed, leading to a restart of the fight rather than a DQ. Following the bout, Hunt was complimentary of his opponent.
“Henry showed me that he was a real man.”
