BKFC 83 is upon us. Saturday, while the eyes of the MMA world are on Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for UFC 321, more competitive violence happens in Rome, Italy. Palazzo Della Sport is the venue for this week’s card from David Feldman’s promotion.
Coverage of Saturday’s event begins with the countdown show at 1 pm ET/ 10 am PT on YouTube before moving onto the fights themselves an hour later. If you’re watching from the United States, the show will be seen on DAZN gavel-to-gavel.
If there are no adjustments needed to be made to the schedule between now and the weekend, the final version of BKFC 83 features a slate of 12 matches.
BKFC 83 Main Event: BKFC Cruiserweight Championship: [C] Chris Camozzi vs. Alessio Sakara
At the top of the bill, cruiserweight division supremacy is at stake in the main event. Incumbent BKFC Cruiserweight Champion Chris Camozzi (4-1 bare-knuckle) meets up with challenger Alessio Sakara (1-0 bare-knuckle.)
All fights on the show, main event included, are an advertised maximum of five rounds at two minutes per round. Camozzi, who went 27-15 in MMA, will be making the walk to the ring on Saturday night having posted a 4-1 record since switching over to bare-knuckle boxing.
At the present time, he’s on a two-fight winning streak, extended back in April with a unanimous decision victory after 10 minutes of action over Andrea Bicchi (3-2 bare-knuckle) in BKFC 73 from Florence, Italy. This is Camozzi’s third successive championship fight under the BKFC promotional banner.
He’s been lucky when the stakes are at their highest so far in BKFC, but will he be able to keep it up on Saturday? Only time will tell.
Meanwhile, Alessio Sakara enters this main event with a mark of 4-1 in his last five fights. He’s won three fights in succession dating back to October of 2019.
This past summer, he finished Erick Lozano (2-4 bare-knuckle) inside the second round in his first fight under bare-knuckle rules. A notable statistic heading into BKFC 83 on Saturday in this:
Sakara is 44 years of age, while Camozzi is 38. Will Sakara’s age play a factor here?
BKFC 83 Co-Main Event: Ben Bonner vs. Franco Tenaglia
Immediately prior to the headliner, the BKFC 83 co-main event takes place in the lightweight ranks as the United Kingdom’s Ben Bonner (4-1 bare-knuckle) meets Franco Tenaglia (4-1 bare-knuckle.) Bonner comes into the weekend with a 4-1 record in his last five matches.
On June 21, he took the BKFC Interim Lightweight Championship by way of unanimous decision against Tony Soto (6-2 bare-knuckle) in Ft. Worth, TX in BKFC 76. Bonner had to go to unfriendly confines to secure the strap this past summer.
Now that he’s back in Europe, will his winning ways continue in BKFC 83? Tune in and find out.
Across the way, Franco Tenaglia enters the card with a 5-0 record in his last five fights across all combative disciplines. Most recently, he scored a unanimous decision in traditional boxing against Abner Lloveras (0-1, 0 KOs) just two weeks ago in Noche de Leyendas 2 in Badalona, Spain.
Will only having two weeks between fights be helpful or a hindrance?
BKFC 83 Featured Fight: BKFC European Middleweight Championship: Francesco Ricchi vs. Josef Hala
Also on BKFC 83’s main card, the featured fight of the evening happens at middleweight. Francesco Ricchi (7-2 bare-knuckle) will knuckle up with Josef Hala (4-0 bare-knuckle.) At stake: The BKFC European Middleweight Championship.
Ricchi has posted a 3-2 record in his last five matches heading into the Rome card on Saturday night. Currently, he’s won two fights in a row.
Last time out, he scored a second-round TKO victory versus Dallas Davison (3-3 bare-knuckle) in Hollywood, FL on July 12. This fight is a “home game” for Ricchi and his camp. Will he deliver a victory and title to his fellow countrymen?
In the other corner, Josef Hala has gone undefeated in bare-knuckle boxing. On April 26, when BKFC paid a visit to Florence, he stopped Giovanni Carpentieri (1-4 bare-knuckle) during the second round of the contest.
He’ll be playing the role of the heel here. Can he wipe the smiles off of the faces of the people watching in Rome on Saturday?
Rest of the Card
The BKFC 83 main card is rounded out by these fights:
- A featherweight fight between Nico Gaffie (2-0 bare-knuckle) and Jelle Zeegers (1-0 bare-knuckle,)
- a welterweight contest matching Jimmy Sweeney (29-5 bare-knuckle) with Carlos Trinidad (6-1 bare-knuckle,)
- a featherweight encounter pairing Dan Chapman (6-0 bare-knuckle) against James Brown (4-1 bare-knuckle,)
- a cruiserweight affair versing Walter Pugliesi (1-0 bare-knuckle) and Karl Thompson (4-0 bare-knuckle,)
- a heavyweight match matching Haze Hepi (1-0 bare-knuckle) against Krzystof Wisniewski (2-0 bare-knuckle,)
- and a light heavyweight bout pairing Andrea Bicchi (4-2 bare-knuckle) with Tomas Melis (1-0 bare-knuckle.)
Which fight or fights are you looking forward to on BKFC 83? Let us know in the comments.
