UFC veteran Jimmie Rivera officially signs with BKFC, expected to debut on May 6

Bare Knuckle FC has officially announced the signing of another former UFC fighter.

As previously reported, bantamweight competitor Jimmie Rivera was expected to join the promotion following his exit from the UFC. On Monday, BKFC announced via press release that pen has been put to paper, and Rivera is now set to make his debut with the promotion at BKFC 25 on Friday, May 6. The event will take place in Orlando, Fla., and Rivera’s opponent will be announced in the coming days.

Rivera has been fighting in the UFC since 2015, where he fought 11 times against the best in the bantamweight division, in addition to one fight at featherweight. He now joins a number of former UFC fighters to make the switch to bareknuckle competition, including Chad Mendes, Mike Perry, Paige VanZant, Rachel Ostovich, Chris Leben, Hector Lombard, and more.

During his best stretch under the UFC banner, Rivera won five straight, picking up consecutive wins over Marcus Brimage, Pedro Munhoz, Iuri Alcantara, Urijah Faber, and Thomas Almeida. At UFC Fight Night 131, he competed in the lone main event of his run with the promotion against Marlon Moraes, which unfortunately did not go in his favor.

Rivera’s last victory with the promotion came on short notice in the featherweight division, where he outpointed Cody Stamann in a hard-fought 15-minute battle.