BKFC 11 Odds and Picks

• BKFC 11 goes Saturday, March 14th at 10:00 pm EST
• Who will emerge victorious from the bigger main card bouts and who is favored heading in?
• Check out the bare-knuckle boxing odds, my Broughton’s Rules analysis, and my fight predictions below.
  

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BKFC 11 emanates from Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. This marks a long-awaited debut for the promotion; avidly working with the Kansas commissioner to make a fight card happen in this state. The card features an eclectic mix of talent from various combat sports disciplines. Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship will be showcasing an Olympic bronze medalist in boxing, A Bellator MMA veteran who is a bare-knuckle debutant, and so much more. A women’s 125 lb title fight and the return of a heavyweight title challenger, for instance.

BKFC 11 Odds

Odds taken Mar 9th

On the heels of a quality card like BKFC 10, the eleventh installment promises to deliver big as well. Nico Hernandez will be competing in a flyweight fight and he’s the first Olympic medalist to compete in BKFC. He captured bronze at the 2016 Games and has since compiled a 7-0 pro record with four knockouts. Pro boxing crossovers aren’t always necessarily guaranteed success when they crossover into BKFC but I think Hernandez has the tools.

He seems like he has good KO power, has tremendously technical boxing skills from his vast amateur experience, and he doesn’t see to have hand issues. Some Boers who had brittle hands while in the sweet science had he issues metastasize that much more-so when the gloves were taken off. I don’t think Henandez will have to worry with any of that and the fight nerd in me is thrilled to see the kind of masterclass he will likely perform at BKFC 11.

Pick: Nico Hernandez (-600)

Bare Knuckle Boxing in Wichita

Peralta is the reigning champion heading into this bout and captured the belt in her initial fight with Ferea. The first fight a BKFC 7 was dubbed by many as one of the great bare-knuckle boxing fights in BKFC history. Helen Perala is now the Police Gazette featherweight champion while Ferea looks to regain the gold. This is an immediate rematch for Ferea but Peralta was able to pick up a win over in the interim over Maia Kahaunaele-Stevenson via first-round KO at BKFC 9. Peralta got the decision nod in the first fight and I think the same will happen this Saturday.

Pick: Helen Peralta (-180)

A name on this card that will be notable to Bellator fans is Dave Rickels. The Caveman is making his BKFC debut when he steps into the ring over the weekend. Rickels was a stalwart on the Bellator circuit with 23 fights, being ranked fourth all-time in Bellator wins, and he also challenged for the lightweight title. He also has notched seven TKOs across his 13 stoppage wins so he is certainly capable in the striking department.

His opponent Harris Stephenson is 2-2 on the BKFC circuit with his last fight being a loss to Kenny Licea BKFC 9 via 63-second first-round KO. I think Rickels has a successful debut and will go 1-0 once he toes the line and knuckles up.

Pick: Dave Rickels (-130)

Meet Your (Shew)maker

Sam Shewmaker has fought five times under the BKFC banner and was on the promotion’s inaugural show. He has rattled off some highlight-reel KOs, was in the first BKFC title fight, and is looking to toe the line once more.

.@bareknucklefc enters a new state with the BIGGEST local names.

Hernandez, Rickels, Lindsay, Wilk & Page will rep Kansas!#BKFC11 is at the @INTRUSTarena– Wichita, KS in 6⃣ days!

Experience the first Olympian to enter the Squared Circle, too!

👊 https://t.co/AmE58yDuOZ pic.twitter.com/i0SQGM6aAR

— TrillerTV (@FiteTV) March 8, 2020

This will be his first bout with the promotion in close to a year. The punchers chance narrative exists in a big way at heavyweight and especially so in BKFC. So there’s some level of intrigue in betting on Burns as an underdog. Ultimately though, I think Shewmaker will break out the vaunted Hillybilly Hammer and put away Burns via knockout.

Pick: Sam Shewmaker (-145)