Anything can happen in combat sports.
In 2024, a greater variety of combat sports is in operation, and that diversity has seemingly widened the range for wacky occurrences. On Friday night at BKFC 62, Alberto “El Indio” Blas won the BKFC bantamweight championship via first-round TKO over Keith “The Rockstar” Richardson.
The latter was hurt by a flurry of punches that led to the referee stepping in to stop the fight. Richardson was so dazed and/or locked into the moment that he began fighting with the referee.
Look at the video below posted by The MMA Hour’s Ariel Helwani. Richardson threw eight punches at the referee before someone from his corner climbed into the ring to separate his fighter.
In MMA, I’ve seen fighters get knocked out while on the ground, and when the referee intervened to separate them, the victim of the KO began to grapple with the official before realizing the fight had been stopped.
This situation was similar but an extreme example.
Blas’ spectacular performance was overshadowed by Richardson’s bizarre reactions after the finish. However, the Cuban-born fighter completely dominated in his opportunity to earn BKFC gold. The stoppage happened just 70 seconds into the fight. Every win on Blas’ record has come via first-round stoppage.
The loss was the first of Richardson’s career as he dropped to 4-1 in his BKFC career. It makes sense for Richardson to take some time before climbing back into the BKFC ring or any other combat sports arena while he recovers from Friday night’s KO.
Here is a look at the upcoming schedule for BKFC:
July 12 – BKFC – Fight Night Pechanga
Aug 3 – BKFC 63 – Hart vs. Starling
Aug 10 – BKFC 64 – Tierney vs. Graham
Aug 16 – BKFC Fight Night – Lindsey vs. Brito
Oct 12 – BKFC Spain – Tenaglia vs. Soto
The BKFC brand has experienced a notable bump in popularity and engagement since the organization welcomed UFC star Conor McGregor as a part-owner.
“Conor brings us to a whole new audience. He’s the biggest influencer in all of combat sports. We’re thrilled he loves BKFC. I admire how he’s never forgotten where he came from. He’s more down to earth than people realize. He’ll be involved in our content, in front of and behind the camera, and we’re very happy to be connected with Conor McGregor.”
McGregor drew a crowd at a Bellator event in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday morning. The hope is that his involvement with BKFC will become an increased draw, and the conversations around the league will continue to grow beyond the wild scenes we saw at Friday’s event.
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