BKFC heads back to South Florida to host BKFC Fight Night Fort Lauderdale tonight at the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines, Florida. MMA Sucka brings you live coverage of this event and many more.
In the headliner, former BKFC heavyweight champion Joey Beltran returns to the ring to take on heavy hitter Frank Tate. Beltran steps into the cage seeking redemption after dropping what would have been his fourth title defense to Arnold Adams at BKFC Fight Night New York back in November. The 40-year-old makes his ninth appearance in the squared circle and holds a 5-2-1 record in BKFC. Prior to his bare-knuckle career, the Californian had a tenured stint with the UFC, Bellator, and Strikeforce. In his time with those major MMA organizations, he racked up 19 of his 33 professional MMA bouts. Beltran has shared the cage with some legends of the sport, including Stipe Miocic and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and has earned victories over Houston Alexander, Chase Sherman, and Vladimir Matyushenko. Beltran’s experience and cardio could be a huge asset for him to get his hand raised tonight.
Alabama’s Tate makes his third promotional appearance in his fourth bare-knuckle bout after a big TKO win over Josh Burns at BKFC 17. The 45-year-old is a veteran of 16 pro MMA and bare-knuckle bouts and has spent time with Bellator as well. In Tate’s eight combined pro MMA and BKFC wins, he has scored knockouts in six of them. As a notable name on the Florida regional scene prior to his bare-knuckle career, he shared the cage with the likes of Chris Barnett, Steve Mowry, Mohammed Usman, and Chase Sherman. Tate holds knockout wins over Fury FC heavyweight champion Austen Lane and former Titan FC middleweight title challenger Shane O’Shea. Overall, Tate will look to land that heavy right hand in hopes of upsetting the former titleholder. With a convincing victory over the top-ranked heavyweight outside of the champ, Tate could solidify a title shot.
In tonight’s co-main event, lightweights Adam Pellerano and James Lilley square off in a bout that could shake up the lightweight rankings. Going into this bout, Pellerano hopes to keep that top two ranking beside his name. The Mississippi native is 3-1 in BKFC and is coming off a victory over John Chalbeck at BKFC 20. Despite being relatively young in the sport, Pellerano has been signed to BKFC for nearly three years. With a win tonight, there is no doubt he puts himself in the conversation to get the next shot at lightweight champion Luis Palomino.
James Lilley makes the trip across the pond from Wales to make his BKFC debut. The former BKB British champion is undefeated in bare-knuckle boxing and makes his American debut tonight. Lilley is also a veteran of 11 pro MMA bouts, including the latest being an appearance with Cage Warriors back in 2019. In those 11 bouts, he saw the judges’ scorecards just a singular time. The 35-year-old has been in the fight game a long time as he made his pro MMA debut back in 2008. In a co-headliner between two game opponents, it is safe to advise not to blink during this one.
Some other notable names on the card include highly touted featherweight prospect Howard Davis, seven-time BKFC veteran Tom Shoaff, who faces the always-intriguing Bruce Lutchmedial, and Brave CF veteran Jeremy Smith.
BKFC Fight Night Fort Lauderdale Results
Main Card (BKTV, 9pm ET/6pm PT)
Frank Tate def. Joey Beltran via Knockout at :23 of Round 1.
James Lilley def. Adam Pellerano via Knockout at :40 of Round 1.
Tom Shoaff def. Bruce Lutchmedial via TKO at 1:59 of Round 3.
Howard Davis def. Josh Wright via Knockout at 2:00 of Round 3.
Doug Coltrane def. Eduardo Concepcion via Unanimous Decision (48-46, 47-46, 47-46).
Ravon Baxter def. Leonel Carrera via Split Decision (48-46, 46-48, 48-46).
Bryan Duran def. Glendale Futrell via TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage) at 2:00 of Round 2.
Juston Stills def. Famez via Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45).
Prelims (BKFC YouTube, 8pm ET/5pm PT)
Jeremy Smith def. Davian Green via Knockout at :40 of Round 3.
Gorjan Slaveski def. Ramal Amanov via TKO at 1:20 of Round 1.
Vinny Turiello def. Rob Fuller via Knockout at 2:00 of Round 1.
