February 18, 2023 12:00 am ET
UFC Corridor of Famer Diego Sanchez fought onerous in his bareknuckle debut, however former WBA boxing champion Austin Trout was an excessive amount of to deal with.
At BKFC Knucklemania 3, which passed off Friday at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, N.M., Sanchez continued his storied fight sports activities profession by attempting his arms in gloveless competitors. Regardless of Sanchez’s finest efforts, Trout, who was additionally making his bareknuckle debut, gained by physician stoppage within the fourth spherical of the co-main occasion bout.
Sanchez regarded to start out the battle shortly, however Trout easily circled away from the preliminary flurry, indicating he wouldn’t be drawn into an early dogfight. From there, Trout caught and transfer to the physique and upstairs as Sanchez discovered his punches simply out of vary of the previous boxing champion.
ROUND 1!!! #KnuckleMania3 pic.twitter.com/O4n3hEDP7V
— FITE (@FiteTV) February 18, 2023
Early within the second spherical, Sanchez charged ahead with punches, this time with extra success. Nonetheless, after the primary few exchanges, Trout was capable of regain management of the battle by main the dance behind his proper jab. With blood flowing from cuts on his face, Sanchez continued to cost ahead within the third spherical. Trout’s head motion continued to shine all through the spherical, evading the larger pictures provided by the MMA veteran.
The primary knockdown of the battle would come within the fourth spherical. Trout related with a pointy left hand that despatched Sanchez to the mat, however he would make the depend for the battle to proceed. Trout continued to attach with sharp punches, inflicting blood to cowl Sanchez’s face. After touchdown extra, Trout appealed to referee Dan Miragliotta to examine on his opponent.
The battle was paused to usher in the ringside physician, who determined the battle needs to be stopped as a result of severity of the injury.
Diego is leaking blood! #KnuckleMania3 pic.twitter.com/etH6WT4Gc3
— FITE (@FiteTV) February 18, 2023
After the battle, BKFC champion Luis Palomino joined Trout within the ring to hype up a possible matchup down the street.
Is a gathering between Luis Palomino and Austin Trout subsequent? #KnuckleMania3 pic.twitter.com/xIheEoTTWj
— FITE (@FiteTV) February 18, 2023
Sanchez, 41, has dropped his final three fight sports activities outings. Previous to his bareknuckle debut Friday, he misplaced a unanimous resolution to Kevin Lee at Eagle FC 46, and ended up on the fallacious finish of the judges’ scorecards in his ultimate UFC bout towards Jake Matthews at UFC 253.
After considerations about concussions and neurological points, Sanchez’s BKFC debut was approved by the New Mexico Athletic Commission after medical testing.
Trout, 37, entered as a winner of five-straight boxing contests. His final look in conventional boxing was in December, the place he defeated Jose Charles by unanimous resolution.