I went to my first bare knuckle fight, here's how it went

On Friday night I was invited to attend my first in-person bare-knuckle boxing fight in Jacksonville, Florida. I am on this new kick of experiencing new things and trying to get out of my little MMA bubble. Last month I attended the Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia boxing fight and last last week I saw my first WWE event when I attended NXT Battleground.

Of course I have watched bare-knuckle from the comfort of my own home but watching it live is a whole new beat. The night before the event a few of us went to have dinner at the local BBQ joint. We had several bare-knuckle fighters, the matchmaker, and even a cutman so I had the chance to ask a ton of questions before seeing it live.

I learned from the fighters why they went the bare-knuckle route (the purity of the sport), I asked the cutman if he wraps hands differently for bare-knuckle, boxing, and MMA (yes, but only slightly) and by the end of the night I was begging to sit as close as possible so I could get blood on me. I was, of course, only half joking.

The event was BYB Extreme Fighting Series 27: Brawl In Duval. The promotion just merged with BKB in the UK to form a mega bare-knuckle brand so the cards are going to get bigger and better than ever before. The card consisted of seven bouts which all took place in BYB's Trigon, a triangle-shaped boxing ring. The ring shape is intended to bring the action quicker and force engagement and boy, does it.

When I arrived to the venue on fight night I was shocked to see how small the trigon was and I immediately knew I was going to be in for a treat. There was a large crowd of fans, probably close to 2,000 people and they were hyped. I also spotted a few faces from pro wrestling and MMA in the crowd including Jake Hager who lost his mind with excitement throughout the night. On commentary was legendary boxer Paulie Malignaggi and iconic former voice of the UFC Mike Goldberg.

I was pleasantly surprised to see I had a ringside seat right next to the matchmaker for the night so I was sure to not miss a thing. I was nearest the red corner, so close that I could hear the coach's mid-fight instructions and smell the blood. Once the first fight started I actually kind of afraid to be so close. I felt the intensity immediately and it took me a few fights to relax into it.

Look how close I was /

As expected there were quick first-round finishes, but it was actually the co-main event that went the full five rounds that I enjoyed the most. The fight was nonstop action with blood and sweat flying everywhere (yes, I did end up getting blood on me). The sound of the knuckles hitting the face was almost like a cork popping off a bottle, the sound was unmistakeable. There was also a fight between two women who displayed incredible heart throughout their match.

After the fights, everyone hung out in the hotel bar and celebrated and had fun. Even the fighters who hadn't won came down to enjoy time together. It really felt like a family reunion. There was no tension, no beef, everyone was just happy and alive. I'm hooked.

I also brought my camera and snapped a few pictures of the moments I enjoyed the most, enjoy those below. I'm hooked. Call me a bare-knuckle fan for life.