Jeremy Stephens strolled into enemy territory and took out a legend.
The longtime UFC veteran scored a come-from-behind win over Philadelphia icon Eddie Alvarez on Saturday in the main event of BKFC KnuckleMania 5, which took place at a sold-out Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. After falling behind on points in the opening two rounds, Stephens dropped Alvarez twice in the third frame with powerful right hands, forcing Alvarez’s corner to stop the bout between rounds.
Afterward, a fired-up Stephens egged on the Philadelphia crowd and faced off with an equally fired up Conor McGregor, with the BKFC co-owner calling upon promotion founder Dave Feldman to book the match.
“I lost so many times in the UFC, like a thousand times, but I put myself back together 1,003 f***ing times, big dog. You cannot stop me. This is resilience, years of hard work,” Stephens shouted.
“My own promoters were against me. The whole city was against me. McGregor’s against me. Mike Perry. Everybody doubted me. Look at me now! Pay me my f***ing money!”
While McGregor vs. Stephens would be a coup for BKFC, especially given the history the two share from Stephens’ time in the UFC, it’s also a pipe dream with McGregor still under UFC contract.
Stephens is now 3-0 in the bare-knuckle boxing ring since making his BKFC debut in late 2023 with a win over another UFC veteran, Jimmie Rivera. He also captured a decision win over Bobby Taylor this past September. Over the course of his 14-year UFC career, Stephens fought in the sixth-most bouts in promotional history (34) and tied UFC legend Anderson Silva for the second-most knockdowns ever.
Alvarez, a former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion, drops to 1-2 in bare-knuckle boxing, having lost back-to-back contests against Stephens and Mike Perry after debuting with a thrilling split decision over three-time UFC title challenger Chad Mendes in April 2023.
In the night’s co-main event, fellow UFC veteran “Big” Ben Rothwell made a thunderous statement, knocking out BKFC heavyweight champion Mick Terrill with a monster right hand in just 36 seconds.
Now the promotion’s heavyweight king, Rothwell is a perfect 4-0 under the BKFC umbrella and appears to be perfectly suited for bare-knuckle boxing.
“I have been doing this in combat sports for 25 years and I’m telling you, your energy was in my right hand and you helped me win this title,” he told the crowd post-fight.
Also on the card, bare-knuckle boxing original Bec Rawlings dominated former BKFC champion Taylor Starling to earn a wide unanimous decision via scores of 50-44, 49-45 and 50-44.
Get full BKFC KnuckleMania 5 results and highlights below, as well as Uncrowned’s play-by-play of the night’s top three bouts.
Main Card
Welterweight: Jeremy Stephens def. Eddie Alvarez via third-round TKO (corner stoppage) (2:00) | Watch finish
Heavyweight title: Ben Rothwell def. Mick Terrill via first-round KO (:36) | Watch KO
Flyweight: Bec Rawlings def. Taylor Starling via unanimous decision (50-44, 49-45, 50-44)
Heavyweight: Patrick Brady def. Zachary Calmus via first-round KO (:53) | Watch KO
Middleweight: John Garbarino def. Apostle Spencer via first-round KO (1:59) | Watch KO | Post-fight proposal
Welterweight: Kaine Tomlinson Jr. def. Pat Sullivan via first-round KO (:37) | Watch KO
Heavyweight: Steven Banks def. Joey Dawejko via third-round TKO (1:54) | Watch KO
Lightweight: Brandon Meyer def. Zedekiah Montanez via second-round KO (:39) | Watch KO
Bantamweight: Travis Thompson def. Zachary Pannell via second-round KO (:41) | Watch KO
Bantamweight: Phil Caracappa def. Noah Norman via fourth-round DQ (late punches) (:40)
Prelims
Middleweight: Cody Russell def. Logan Tucker via third-round KO (:49) | Watch KO
Middleweight: Itso Babulaidze def. Bryan McDowell via unanimous decision (48-42, 47-43, 48-42) | Highlights
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER59 updates
