BKFC 12 Odds and Picks – Alves vs Lane and Lombard vs Grove
- BKFC 12 goes down on Friday, September 11th at 9 PM ET
- Who will capture Police Gazette medals and who will taste the canvas?
- Check out the fight odds, analysis, and predictions below
BKFC 12 emanates from Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida with fans being present in a reduced capacity. This fight card will exclusively broadcast on the Bare Knuckle TV app.
Several brave warriors will knuckle up and toe the line for some Friday night fights. This bare-knuckle boxing card is filled with several former UFC veterans that are looking to work their way up in the BKFC hierarchy.
BKFC 12 Odds
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Thiago Alves | -360 |
| Julian Lane | +250 |
| Fighter | Odds |
| Hector Lombard | -280 |
| Kendall Grove | +200 |
Odds as of September 11th
Alves’ Bare Knuckle Debut
Thiago Alves is readying for his first foray into bareknuckle boxing after a well regarded MMA career. Alves has followed a path that many mixed-martial arts veterans have gone down and is looking to add a fresh coat of paint to his fight efforts in the BKFC ring.
Pitbull was initially supposed to battle the New York Badass Phil Baroni, but a last minute switch up would change those plans.
Julian Lane has replaced Phil Baroni and will now face Thiago Alves in the main event for BKFC 12! pic.twitter.com/zcCpF4hjrf
— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) September 3, 2020
Some might be bothered by an opponent switch so close to the fight date, but Alves thinks things worked out pretty favorably. He enjoys the bare knuckle experience edge that Lane has because it gives Alves tape to study so he can create and implement a strategy to win.
Alves ascended to some of the highest levels of MMA having challenged Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight belt at UFC 100 over the course of a run that lasted over 14 years with the promotion.
Now, the Brazilian knockout artist is looking to take over another sport.
Julian Lane’s Chance to Bang, Bro
Lane also has an MMA background like Alves, but, as mentioned, has more bare knuckle boxing experience.
He has a 2-2 record overall in bareknuckle and three of those fights have taken place under the BKFC banner.
Julian Lane is infamous for his line on The Ultimate Fighter where in a drunken rampage he repeatedly shouted, “Let me bang, bro”.
Considering Alves’ mentality and motivations in a bare knuckle contest, I think Lane’s request will be obliged.
He is looking to rebound in this outing after tasting defeat to Jim Alers via second round knockout at BKFC 8.
Despite Lane’s bare knuckle experience edge, I think Alves ultimately has more tools to utilize here and has competed at a higher level in combat sports overall.
Lane also doesn’t have the benefit of that puncher’s chance narrative considering he has scored one striking based finish overall across both MMA and BKB.
Alves vs Lane Tale of the Tape
| 23-15 (MMA)
0-0 (BKB) |
Record | 12-9-1 (MMA)
2-2 (BKB) |
| 13 (MMA)
0 (BKB) |
Knockouts | 1 (MMA)
0 (BKB) |
| 5’9 | Height | 5’10 |
| 70″ | Reach | 70.5″ |
| Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck, Karo Parisyan (MMA)
N/A (BKB) |
Significant Wins | N/A (MMA)
Toam Shoaff and Joey Angelo (BKB) |
| Orthodox | Stance | Orthodox |
I think Alves will feel things out a little bit in the early going and get his feet underneath him before running away with the fight. When speaking to Alves for a pre-fight interview, he expressly stated that he sees the finish coming in “either the third or fourth round”.
I ultimately agree with this and see Thiago Alves finishing Julian Lane in the later rounds of this BKFC 12 main even contest.
Pick: Thiago Alves (-360)
Kendall Grove vs Hector Lombard
This BKFC 12 co-main event feature pits UFC veterans against one another but the gloves are coming off.
Lombard is entering this one on the heels of a successful bare-knuckle boxing debut compared to Grove’s 1-1 record under the BKFC banner.
Grove has a remarkable eight inch reach advantage but Lombard has the edge in terms of KO power with his brick fists and more stout physique.
I think Grove will be able to maintain distance and pick his shot for a period of time but I ultimately see Lombard closing that gap and securing the finish in the later rounds.
Pick: Hector Lombard (-280)
A part-time writer and full-time broadcaster, Dylan has hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, and covered some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage.
