Eddie Alvarez had the crowd on his side on Saturday night, but it was Jeremy Stephens who walked away the winner by technical knockout at the end of the third round at the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s KnuckleMania V at the Wells Fargo Center.
Alvarez is a former North Catholic wrestler who went on to become a world champion in UFC and Bellator MMA.
Parkwood heavyweight Joey Dawejko made his bare knuckle debut after 45 fights as a professional boxer, but lost to Steve Banks by third-round knockout. Dawejko dominated the first round before appearing to run out of gas.
It was mixed results for two South Philadelphia fighters.
John Garbarino knocked out Apostle Spencer in the first round and proposed to his girlfriend in the ring afterward. She said yes.
However, Pat Sullivan was KO’d in the first round by Kaine Tomlinson Jr.
Among those in attendance was Conor McGregor, a BKFC investor and popular former UFC and MMA champion who defeated Alvarez in a 2016 UFC title fight.
McGregor and BKFC president David Feldman presented championship belts to three former Flyers Broad Street Bullies – Dave Schultz, Joe Watson and Jimmy Watson.
Here are the rest of the results:
Itso Babulaidze def. Bryan McDowell, unanimous decision
Cody Russell def. Logan Tucker, 3rd-round KO
Phil Caracappa def. Noah Norman, 4th-round DQ
Travis Thompson def. Zach Pannell, 2nd-round KO
Brandon Meyer def. Zebediah Montanez, 2nd-round KO
Patrick Brady def. Zach Calmus, 1st-round KO
Bec Rawlings def. Taylor Starling, unanimous decision
Ben Rothwell def. Mick Terrill, 1st-round KO
Each fight was scheduled for five two-minute rounds. ••
