Chad Mendes is enjoying himself at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, but there’s one man he does not want to see step into the promotion.
Francis Ngannou, the UFC heavyweight champion and world record holder for hardest puncher, isn’t happy with his UFC contract, and may well appear in a new promotion in future. Mendes told Full Mount he hopes it isn’t BKFC.
Mendes on Ngannou’s Punching Power: “He’s gonna kill somebody!”
“I tell you what, I would not want to be anywhere near that dude bare-knuckle. Could you imagine that dude hitting you in the face bare-knuckle? He’s gonna kill somebody.”
Francis Ngannou last fought in January, out-wrestling Ciryl Gane to a decision win to unify to heavyweight division. Ngannou’s contract situation with the UFC remains tenuous.
Meanwhile, Chad Mendes is no slouch himself when it comes to striking. He stopped opponent Joshua Alvarez in only the second round of his most recent BKFC fight, and pointed out that bare-knuckle fighting is much easier on his body than MMA ever was.
“Outside of the knuckles being sharp and that part of it being brutal, in my opinion, it’s easier than MMA. Obviously I haven’t been in a war in a bare-knuckle fight, so I don’t know what that really feels like, but it’s only five 2-minute rounds. It’s just boxing. You don’t have to worry about kicks, knees, elbows, grappling, and the money is really good.”
BKFC is the first promotion to host a sanctioned bareknuckle boxing event in the USA since 1889. Today, it is the world’s largest bareknuckle boxing championship, marked by a unique fighting ring of a four-roped circle.
Although, historically, bareknuckle boxing matches allowed for the use of elbows and forearm strikes, under modern rules, punches are the only strikes allowed. Unlike conventional boxing, fighters are permitted only to wrap and tape their wrist, thumb, and mid-hand, and cannot have gauze or tape within an inch of their knuckle.
Unlike MMA rules, in bareknuckle boxing, it is illegal to strike a downed opponent, who has ten seconds to get back up. Punching in the clinch is legal, unlike in ordinary boxing.
Chad Mendes boasted eight knockout wins during his time in the UFC. He last fought for the MMA promotion in 2018, losing via TKO to now-featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski. He lost four of his last six fights, including losses to a surging Conor McGregor and defending champ Jose Aldo.
Would you want to see Francis Ngannou step into a bare knuckle boxing ring? Let us know in the comments.
