Evgeny Kurdanov took the victory over Elvin Leon Brito in the headliner of BKFC Fight Night at Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, CA on January 18. The five-round welterweight bare knuckle bout went the full distance and ended with the scores 50-45, 49-46, and 50-45.
With the win, Los Angeles-based Kurdanov improved to 5-2 and rebounded from a pair of defeats. Former BKFC welterweight champion Brito of Puerto Rico dropped to 6-6 and suffered his second straight defeat.
“This has been a long time coming. Thank you, everyone,” Kurdanov said. “This is a great moment in my career. Bare knuckle fighting is the #1 combat sport in the world.”
In the co-main event, Robbie Peralta (4-2) of Escondido, CA earned a unanimous decision against Jordan Christensen (3-6) of Las Vegas. After five rounds at lightweight, the scores were 50-45, 49-46, and 50-45.
“It feels great to be back in the win column in my hometown,” Peralta said. “I’ve got my family here, everybody behind me, and I couldn’t be happier to make them proud and put on a show.”
Among other BKFC Pechanga results, Ryan Petersen (2-0) of Humboldt County, CA scored a unanimous decision against Canada’s Matt Socholotiuk (2-1) at welterweight. In another contest at welterweight, Rodney Thomas (1-2) of Harbor City, CA defeated Art Driscoll (0-3) of New York also by UD. Plus, Mike Andaya of Escondido, CA (1-0) eliminated Canada’s Dan Godoy (0-3) in the second round at lightweight.
Also on the card, Caleb Avila (1-1) of Valley Center, CA stopped Tylor Sijohn (0-2) of Worley, ID in the third round at heavyweight. As well, Iman Williams (1-0) of Riverside, CA knocked out Gabriel Mota (1-3) of Hammond, IN in the first round also at heavyweight.
Atop the prelims, Jeremy Sauceda (2-2) of Odessa, Texas defeated Luis Villasenor (1-2) of San Diego, CA via first-round TKO due to a leg injury at middleweight. Kicking off the action, Justyn Martinez (1-4) of Wichita, Kansas took the win over Alexander Gutierrez (1-1) of Lake Elsinore, CA via first-round stoppage due to a back injury at flyweight.