It’s a massive weekend for Philly sports. In the NFL, Sunday’s NFC championship game will decide one-half of Super Bowl LIX when the Philadelphia Eagles collide with their oldest rival franchise, the Washington Commanders. Saturday, however, will see fists fly when BKFC comes to town for KnuckleMania V inside the Wells Fargo Center.
Lightweight MMA legend and former UFC champion Eddie Alvarez takes center stage in the main event spotlight for a homecoming affair. The matchup with his fellow seasoned veteran, Jeremy Stephens, will be Alvarez’s first time competing in his native Philadelphia since a successful Bellator title defense against Roger Huerta in 2010.
The evening’s co-main event will feature another notable name to MMA fans. “Big” Ben Rothwell will fight Mick Terrill for heavyweight gold, looking to remain undefeated in bare-knuckle boxing. In the fight before the championship tilt, another UFC veteran, Bec Rawlings, returns to action when she battles Taylor Starling.
Violence is guaranteed at every BKFC event, and KnuckleMania V should deliver in spades. But who comes out with their hands raised?
Betting odds courtesy of BetMGM.
175 pounds: Eddie Alvarez (-110) vs. Jeremy Stephens (-120)
If you’ve followed their MMA careers for the past 15 years, Alvarez vs. Stephens was a fight no one ever considered. That’s not because it wouldn’t have been a sure-fire war, but Alvarez’s path to supremacy included a collection of titles outside the UFC before he eventually debuted in 2014. By then, the perennial fan-favorite slugger Stephens had taken his talents to the 145-pound featherweight division.
Stephens eventually returned to 155 pounds in 2021, three years after Alvarez parted ways with the promotion. Since then, they’ve enjoyed mixed results in and out of MMA but have found a home in BKFC. Each has fought twice in bare-knuckle boxing matches thus far, with Stephens undefeated and Alvarez beating Chad Mendes before a loss to Mike Perry.
Let’s be honest here. There isn’t much technique in a bare-knuckle match. Like a street fight, if you’ve ever seen a BKFC event, you’ll know that these collisions are genuine human car crashes. Who can survive the most damage while dishing it out quickly?
Alvarez has the clear size advantage against “Lil Heathen” and has shown better durability in the latter portion of his career while fighting less frequently. Stephens has historically had one of the most impressive chins in MMA. The question in this matchup surrounds how power will translate for each at 175 pounds. Will Stephens’ already solid knockout power increase, and will it be enough to stun the bigger Alvarez? Will Stephens’ durability hold up to the power of “The Underground King”?
Considering what we’ve seen in their four combined BKFC bouts and the wear and tear of their MMA careers, it’s difficult not to lean toward the former UFC champion. This could be Alvarez’s swan song; he won’t say goodbye without a bang.
Pick: Alvarez
265 pounds: Mick Terrill (-300) vs. Ben Rothwell (+220)
I’ll never forget watching Rothwell vs. Josh Copeland in Denver at BKFC 41 in April 2023.
One of the unique things about bare-knuckle boxing is the allowance of the clinch. That always goes over my head because of boxing’s limitations in the traditional sense. Well, watch that Copeland fight, and you’ll see a man get put through a meat grinder as their face is tenderized to a bloody pulp. What Rothwell did to that man was disturbing.
The 53-fight MMA veteran (39-14) wanted his BKFC title shot after that win, and he’s since added a 43-second Todd Duffee TKO to his résumé, going 3-0 overall. In Terrill, Rothwell has a bona fide bare-knuckle brawler on his hands, finding himself out-experienced in this matchup. Terrill could be argued as a clever money play because of his edge in this realm, as evidenced by the odds. He’s the champion for a reason, after all. However, Rothwell has been through the fire, gloves or no gloves, and possesses a notorious toughness similar to Stephens.
This fight has excellent potential to be the grossest fight of the night. You know. Because heavyweight. But I have to give the nod to “The King of Kenosha” and that filthy clinch work.
Pick: Rothwell
125 pounds: Taylor Starling (+120) vs. Bec Rawlings (-160)
Throughout BKFC’s history, some of the more gruesome scenes have been courtesy of the flyweights. Starling, in particular, hasn’t been shy to break knuckles on faces and wear a black eye or two.
Starling has been a divisional staple, arriving in 2021 and going 5-3. Unlike many bare-knuckle boxers, Starling is a rare case of youth at only 28 years old. That’s not a jab at the sport; it’s the reality of the business. Stephens, 38, is the youngest of the four fighters involved in the final two bouts, with the other three all over 40. Meanwhile, Rawlings isn’t quite “over the hill” at 35, but we’ve seen the ceiling on the “Rowdy” one as she seeks her first win in bare-knuckle boxing after three previous attempts.
Rawlings hasn’t transitioned smoothly from MMA, remaining too patient in her matches to overcome her opponents’ aggression and volume. The Aussie can take plenty of punishment, resulting in only one knockout loss in her entire combat sports career. But Starling has the edge and will apply that patented pressure from the second the action begins.
Pick: Starling
Quick picks:
Zachary Calmus (+115) def. Patrick Brady (-150)
Dustin Pague (-650) def. JD Burns (+400)
Travis Thompson (-350) def. Zachary Pannell (+240)
Joe Garabarino (-1600) def. Apostle Spencer (+700)
Kaine Tomlinson (+105) def. Pat Sullivan (-140)
Cody Russell (-550) def. Logan Tucker (+350)
Phil Caracappa (-275) def. Noah Norman (+200)
Zedekiah Montanez (-1200) def. Brandon Meyer (+625)
Itso Babulaidze (-350) def. Bryan McDowell (+240)
Joey Dawejko (-900) def. Steven Banks (+500)
