BKFC Fight Night Derby fight week is here. With 2025 almost in the history file, David Feldman’s promotion only has two more cards before turning the page to its 2026 schedule of events.
These shows take place in each of the next two weekends and it starts this coming Saturday night (UK time.) Vallant Live serves as the host venue for the penultimate card of 2025, BKFC Fight Night Derby.
Coverage begins with the countdown show Saturday at 1 pm ET/ 10 am PT on YouTube before moving onto the fights themselves at 2 pm ET/ 11 am PT. As always, BKFC Fight Night Derby will be seen gavel-to-gavel via the official BKFC mobile application. If there are no adjustments to the bout order, the final version of the card will feature a 10-bout slate.
BKFC Fight Night Derby Main Event: Vacant BKFC UK Light Heavyweight Championship: Conor Cooke vs. Anthony Holmes
At the top of the bill on Saturday night, the Vacant BKFC UK Light Heavyweight Championship is at stake in the BKFC Fight Night Derby main event. Conor Cooke (5-1 bare-knuckle) meets Anthony Holmes (5-2-1 bare-knuckle.)
This fight, as well as all others on Saturday, will be an advertised maximum of five rounds at two minutes per round. Conor Cooke enters the main event of the evening with a record of 4-1 in his last five fights under bare-knuckle rules.
At the moment, he’s on a three-fight winning streak. This past March, he secured a first-round knockout with 19 seconds left on the clock over Stevie Taylor (1-1 bare-knuckle) during BKFC Manchester.
Cooke is as little as 10 minutes of action (or less) away from winning the light heavyweight title and he’s in the midst of a hot streak. Can he ring out the old year with a trip to victory lane?
Meanwhile, Anthony Holmes has gone 2-2-1 in his last five appearances. Most recently, he stopped Chas Wasserman (2-2 bare-knuckle) inside the second round in November of last year. He hasn’t fought in over 13 months’ time, so can he overcome the ring rust to win the title?
BKFC Fight Night Derby Co-Main Event: Bradley Taylor vs. Brian Hyslop
Immediately beforehand, bantamweight action serves as the focus of the BKFC Fight Night Derby co-main event: Bradley Taylor (3-0 bare-knuckle) fights Brian Hyslop (1-0 bare-knuckle, BKFC debut.) Taylor enters this contest having yet to lose as a bare-knuckle pugilist.
Back on Nov. 2 of last year, he bested Robbie Brown (3-3 bare-knuckle) by way of unanimous decision in BKFC 68. He’s been off since then, but will he remain on the ranks of the undefeated after Saturday night?
Across the way, Brian Hyslop enters his BKFC promotional debut having won his first career bare-knuckle appearance on July 5. That evening, he finished Tony Delany inside the opening round.
While his bare-knuckle career is in its early days, this co-main event could be a resume-builder as the next phase of his combat sports career continues. How will his sophomore appearance go?
BKFC Fight Night Derby Featured Fight: Paul Cook vs. Matthew Wiwczaryk
The evening’s featured fight at BKFC Fight Night Derby takes place at welterweight between Paul Cook (3-1 bare-knuckle) and Matthew Wiwczaryk (3-1 bare-knuckle.) Cook will knuckle up in the ring on Saturday night having posted a 4-1 record across all competitions in his last five appearances.
This past February, he emerged victorious from his fight against Adam Grogan (2-5 bare-knuckle) with a fourth-round knockout. The victory served as his return to the win column after dropping a unanimous decision at the hands of Luke Beamish (2-0 bare-knuckle) in his Nov. 2, 2024 contest.
Will he start another winning streak this Saturday? Tune in and find out.
In the other corner, Matthew Wiwczaryk has gone 3-1 across his four bare-knuckle fights. At the moment, he’s won two fights in a row. Most recently, he scored a unanimous decision win versus Marley Churcher (3-4 bare-knuckle) on June 28 during BKFC 77.
2025 has been an active year for Wiwczaryk, as this fight is his third in just under eight months time. Will a third straight win be in his future before he heads home for the holidays?
Rest of the Card
The BKFC Fight Night Derby main card is rounded out by these fights:
- a featherweight contest between the aforementioned Robbie Brown (2-3 bare-knuckle) and Lewis Knox (3-2 bare-knuckle, BKFC debut,)
- a middleweight fight matching Simeon Ottley (1-1 bare-knuckle) against Oskar Smykiel (1-0 bare-knuckle,)
- a middleweight attraction versing Liam Hutchinson (0-1 bare-knuckle) with Luke Brassfield (bare-knuckle debut,)
- a middleweight showcase pairing Cory Hardy (bare-knuckle debut) against Leigh Cohoon (2-0 bare-knuckle,)
- and a lightweight bout between Tommy Carus and Tommy Hawthorne in the debut fight in BKFC for both men.
Which fights are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.
