BKFC will return to Mississippi next month with a bantamweight title fight atop the card.
Former UFC fighter Johnny Bedford will take on Reggie Barnett for BKFC’s vacant 135-pound title in the main event. And another ex-UFC fighter, Alan Belcher, will make his BKFC debut when he takes on Tony Lopez in the middleweight co-main event. Pllus, Quentin Henry is set to take on Jason Fish at heavyweight.
BKFC 20 takes place Aug. 20 at Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Miss. It will be BKFC’s seventh event in Biloxi on the Gulf coast about 90 miles from New Orleans.
Bedford, a cast member on Season 14 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” went 2-3 in the UFC. He’s been fighting bareknuckle since 2018 and started 5-0 for BKFC, including a decision win over Barnett in June 2019 to win the bantamweight belt.
In February, he lost a bantamweight title fight to Dat Nguyen for his first loss in the promotion. But when contract talks between Nguyen and BKFC reportedly went awry, Nguyen was stripped of the title, and now Bedford will have a chance to get the belt back.
Barnett has three straight wins for BKFC since his loss to Bedford, including two by stoppage. He took out Matt Murphy in the second round in February 2020, and after a decision over Abdiel Velazquez later that year, he got a corner stoppage TKO win over DeMarcus Corley at BKFC 16 in March.
Belcher, a Biloxi native, will make his BKFC debut in front of what likely will be a friendly crowd for him. Belcher racked up an 18-8 record in the UFC. He hung up his gloves after back-to-back decision losses to Yushin Okami in 2012 and eventual middleweight champ Michael Bisping in 2013. Prior to those setbacks, he had four straight stoppage wins for the promotion, including a knockout of Rousimar Palhares.
Lopez will be gunning for his first BKFC win. He fought on the promotion’s first two events, but lost decisions to Joey Beltran and Jimmy Jennett in 2018. At BKFC 4, he fought Beltran in a rematch and had to settle for a split draw. He’s been in kickboxing, boxing and MMA fights since then, but this will be his return to the bareknuckle world for the first time since early 2019.
Johnny Bedford-Reggie Barnett title rematch headlines August’s BKFC 20 lineup in Mississippi
