Legalized bare-knuckle boxing, banned in the U.S. since 1889, returned in Wyoming on Saturday night. (Photo: Ron Chenoy, for USA TODAY)

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Bare-knuckle boxing, last practiced with fanfare on American soil when legendary champion John L. Sullivan was knocking out men in the 1880s, made its official return Saturday night.

Billed as the first legal, sanctioned and state-regulated bare-knuckle event in U.S. history, the 10-card bout got underway at the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center in front of a sellout crowd of 2,000. A potentially far bigger audience watched the pay-per-view telecast.

Fighters wearing gauze wrapped around their hands but with knuckles exposed paraded in the “squared circle,” specially designed for the event that prompted threatening phone calls, according to promoter David Feldman.

“One guy said, ‘I’m going to welcome you to Wyoming with a bullet in your head,’ " Feldman, founder of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships, told USA TODAY Sports. "Just a lot of junk that came our way.

"I know that most people are just talking, trying to scare me off, and I didn’t want to take it seriously. But you never know what may happen.’’

With a K-9 patrol dog trained to detect explosives on hand, the event went off without a hitch. The fight card included 15 mixed-martial arts fighters, four boxers and one kickboxer — all established professionals, Feldman said.

A co-main event featured two women, MMA fighter Bec Rawlings of Australia and boxer Alma Garcia of Denver. The other co-main event featured Ricco Rodriguez, a former UFC heavyweight champion.

Seven of the 10 fights were decided by knockout or technical knockout, and only three fights went beyond the third round on a bloody night.

In the co-main events, Rawlings won in a second-round TKO and Rodriguez won by decision.

Bryan Pedersen, chairman Wyoming Combat Sports Commission, responded to critics who call bare-knuckle boxing barbaric and objected to Wyoming sanctioning the event. (Feldman, the promoter, said 28 other states refused to do so.)

Noting that bare-knuckle fighters can use only their fists, while MMA fighters and kickboxers can strike an opponent in the head with their elbows, knees and shins, Pedersen said, “That’s something where we can just look at and say, ‘This (bare-knuckle boxing) is going to be a safer sport than the two that we already regulate.' ’’

But precautions were in place for what was expected to be a bloody event. Two ringside doctors, rather than the standard one, were on hand, and two ambulances were parked outside the center.



Feldman said the show cost $500,000 to produce and he expressed confidence that fans would get their money’s worth. Tickets were priced from $50 to $200 and the pay-per-view telecast was available for $29.99 on outlets such as fite.tv.

“Not everybody wanted us here, but now that we’re here they’re welcoming us,’’ Feldman said before the fight. “We’re getting a tremendous response all around the world. It’s just unbelievable.’’</s>The first ever USA state-sanctioned bare-knuckle boxing match got a bloody ending on Saturday night – and a big response from a rowdy crowd.

Arnold Adams, a 32-year-old MMA heavyweight, pounded ex-UFC fighter D.J. Linderman's face into a bloody mess in front of 2,000 loud and wild fans at a hockey rink that usually hosts birthday parties and skating lessons in Wyoming's capital.

Adams used an effective left jab to win a technical knockout. The ringside doctor stopped the match after the second round.

Worse for wear: DJ Linderman (right) fights on with nasty cuts in his bare knuckle defeat by Arnold Adams. Credit:The Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Tens of thousands more tuned in for the pay-per-view event, which featured 10 bouts, including four heavyweight fights in a tournament format.</s>PRESS RELEASE – Combat sports history will be made in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Saturday, June 2 nd , when the Philadelphia based Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) presents the first legal, regulated, and sanctioned bare knuckle event in the United States since 1889.

Held under the auspices and control of the Wyoming Combative Sports Commission, headed by Chairman Bryan Pedersen, the 12 bout card will feature only established professional fighters, who have competed in boxing, MMA, kickboxing, and Muay Thai; and include the quarter-final round of an 8-man heavyweight tournament.

“This is the start of a new era in combat sports,” said BKFC President and former professional boxer David Feldman. “Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship will combine the incredibly rich history of bare knuckle under the Broughton and London Prize Ring Rules, with a modern rule set for this generation. By showcasing professional fighters from a wide array of disciplines, we want to answer the question: Who is the best pure striker on the planet?”

The inaugural event, “BKFC: The Beginning”, will be held at the Cheyenne Ice and Events

 Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and air throughout the United States and Canada on Pay Per View through Multivision Media, Inc., on all major television and streaming distribution outlets for $29.95.

Tickets are available now exclusively at www.bareknuckle.tv ranging from $50 to $200

 “Our Commission is proud to be regulating this great event, which speaks to Wyoming’s

 tradition of strong Western independence. We are excited to work with Mr. Feldman, and the professionalism that he brings to the sport,” said Bryan Pedersen, Chairman of the Wyoming Combat Sports Commission

Among those scheduled to fight on the card at “BKFC: The Beginning” are:

 Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez

 Former IBF Lightweight World Champion Paul Spadafora

 Lineal Bare Knuckle Boxing Heavyweight Champion Bobby Gunn

 Former WEC Middleweight Champion & 12 fight UFC veteran Joe Riggs

 Bellator Heavyweight Tournament Winner & All-Army Boxing Champion Eric Prindle

 Undefeated Heavyweight Professional Boxer Sam Shewmaker

 The card is scheduled to feature additional fight veterans from the UFC, PBC, Bellator, and K1; and with fighters hailing from the US, Canada, Russia, England, and Australia.

Said BKFC President David Feldman, “As excited as we are for this event, we’re even more

 excited to launch a new combat sport franchise with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. This is truly just the beginning.”</s>Bare-knuckle boxing from a bygone era looks for a comeback

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — In 1889, the great John L. Sullivan, the Boston Strong Boy, beat Jake Kilrain in 75 rounds — yes, 75 — in what the International Boxing Hall of Fame has called the "last significant bare-knuckle bout in boxing."

Since then, about the only gloves-off fighting many people have witnessed has consisted of barroom brawls.

But on Saturday night, 10 bouts of bare-knuckle boxing, including one involving female fighters, will take place at the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center.

The event, available on pay-per-view, is being promoted as the first legal, regulated and sanctioned bare-knuckle fight event in U.S. history. Back in Sullivan's day, there were no sanctioning bodies and few if any regulations.

"I think it's what the public wants to see. The public is begging for something new," promoter David Feldman said, noting that it has been 25 years since the advent of UFC mixed martial arts. "We're hopefully leading the way to a new era in combat sports."

The boxers will be allowed wraps around their thumbs and wrists but will not wear any protection over their knuckles the way fighters normally do in traditional boxing, MMA or other combat sports where padded gloves of various thickness are used.

Each bout is scheduled for five, 2-minute rounds, fought in a ring with rounded ropes instead of the traditional square.

Bare-knuckle regulations are otherwise similar to those of glove boxing, in that opponents can only throw punches and there's a standing eight count and a three-knockdown rule.

"But when you're in a clinch, you can hit with the open hand. You can pull the back of their neck into punches," Feldman said. "So it gives a little bit more excitement in the clinches."

ESPN boxing columnist Nigel Collins said gloves — originally known as mufflers — were introduced around the 18th century to help protect fighters' hands and the faces and hands of aristocrats who took up the sport. By the turn of the 20th century all boxing matches had gloves because new rules required them, Collins said.

Some authorities on boxing have argued that padded gloves made the sport more dangerous by allowing fighters to hit their opponents in the head more often with less risk of hurting their hands.

Collins said he personally isn't interested in bare-knuckle fighting "but I wouldn't knock it. If that's what people want to do, let them do it." He said it would be hypocritical of fans of boxing and other martial arts to object to the danger and brutality.

Feldman's Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships organization has been trying to get bare-knuckle boxing sanctioned in a number of states. The Wyoming State Board of Mixed Martial Arts, created in 2012, was the first to do so.

Board chairman Bryan Pedersen said the board received no opposition and saw the event as an opportunity to provide better safety than is afforded at unregulated bare-knuckle fights. Ringside doctors, for instance, are required at state-sanctioned bouts.

The board reviewed research that indicated bare-knuckle boxing would be safer than other combat sports, especially when it comes to concussions, Pedersen said.

"If you look at what we already regulate in the state of Wyoming — we regulate kickboxing and MMA, right?" he said. "In those two, you could take an elbow to the head, a knee to the head or a shin kick to the head. And go out in your yard and punch a basketball and kick a basketball and see what goes farther."

Collins said whether bare-knuckle boxing is safer than regular boxing isn't known. He only knows that the bare-knuckle fights being held in Wyoming won't be nearly as brutal as the bouts in the old days, when fighters slugged it out until one couldn't continue.

Fighter Bobby Gunn, who is on the card Saturday night, said Wyoming is bringing a sport that exists underground into the light of day.

"I don't got to worry about being arrested," Gunn said with a laugh.

Pedersen sees advantages for the state of Wyoming as well: "I see the whole thing as a giant economic possibility for diversity in our state and to really help promote the Cowboy State and our strong sense of Western independence."

Ricco Rodriguez, a former UFC champion who is making his first try at bare-knuckle boxing on Saturday, said it seems safer to him than gloved fighting because the athletes know they have to be more careful not to injure their hands.

"You hit an elbow or you hit the back of the head or something, you're liable to definitely break your hand," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez's training for Saturday included conditioning his hands by punching wood dummies and doing pushups on his knuckles.

He said he likes the idea of being involved in building a new combat sport. Also, he said, "I think it's the purest form of fighting."

Feldman said that when people first hear about bare-knuckle returning as a sport, it always draws a reaction.

"Because of that reaction, we're going to shock the world Saturday night," he said.</s>(Jacob Byk/Wyoming Tribune Eagle via AP). Reggie Barnett, right, fights Travis Thompson during the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship event Saturday, June 2, 2018, in Cheyenne, Wyo. The night was promoted as the first sanctioned bare-knuckle fighting i...

(Jacob Byk/Wyoming Tribune Eagle via AP). Reggie Barnett, left, fights Travis Thompson at 135 pounds during the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship on Saturday, June 2, 2018, in Cheyenne, Wyo. The night was promoted as the first sanctioned bare-knuckle ...

(Jacob Byk/Wyoming Tribune Eagle via AP). DJ Linderman, left, fights Arnold Adams during the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship event Saturday, June 2, 2018, in Cheyenne, Wyo. The night was promoted as the first sanctioned bare-knuckle fighting in more...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The first ever state-sanctioned bare-knuckle boxing match got a bloody ending Saturday night - and a big response from a raucous crowd.

Arnold Adams, a 32-year-old MMA heavyweight, pounded ex-UFC fighter D.J. Linderman's face into a bloody mess in front of 2,000 rowdy fans at a hockey rink that usually hosts birthday parties and skating lessons in Wyoming's capital. Tens of thousands more tuned in for the pay-per-view event, which featured 10 bouts, including four heavyweight fights in a tournament format.

Fans were lined up outside the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center more than an hour before the first major bare-knuckle event in the U.S. since 1889. Forrest Peters, from Cheyenne, was among those in attendance. He came to cheer Estevan Payan - who served in the same Army unit as Peters - and to witness history.

"With the bare-knuckle fighting and everything, having them bring it back for the first time in over 100 years, you knew it's pretty exciting to see," Peters said, "and especially having it here in Cheyenne, kinda out here where the West is still a little wild."

Payan, of Tempe, Arizona, didn't disappoint, flooring Omar Avelar at 1:57 of the opening round of a 145-pound match.

The quickest knockout occurred when Sam Shewmaker used one punch, an overhand right, to send Eric Prindle to the canvas 18 seconds into their heavyweight bout.

"It felt like hitting a home run," said Shewmaker, a fourth-generation stone mason from the tiny central Missouri town of Gravois Mills. "I didn't think I would be able to catch him that early, but luckily I did."

Shewmaker has been an amateur boxer for years, and when he heard about the Wyoming event, he tried out and earned a chance to compete.

"I never dreamed that it would be legal to be able to do this," he said. "I've been in plenty of illegal bare-knuckle fights. I mean growing up where I did, in the area I did, it's kinda rough, but people are gentlemen about it, too. You can fight, you get up, you're done, you shake hands and you go get a beer."

Bec Rawlings, a 29-year-old from Brisbane, Australia, won the only bout of the night featuring women, stopping Alma Garcia with a TKO in the second round.

Rawlings noticed little difference from fighting with gloves.

"It felt the same to get punched as in an MMA fight, which is what my background is," she said. "The difference was my knuckles more - when I punched her, I felt it a little bit more. Other than that, it was really nice just to let go and showcase my boxing skill and not worry about a takedown or a kick.

"It felt like the rawest form of combat sports to just go out there and throw your hands and let loose."

Tony Lopez lost the most entertaining fight of the night, a five-rounder against fellow Californian Joey Beltran. The crowd was on its feet and roaring as the two heavyweights traded punches and slugged it out to the end, with both men bruised, cut up and bloodied.

"The knuckles was nothing," the 44-year-old Lopez said. "... I've always wanted to fight with no gloves. Got a chance to do it here."

Beltran and Shewmaker joined Ricco Rodriguez and Maurice Jackson in the semifinals of the heavyweight division tournament, which will be held in September, also in Cheyenne.

Heralded underground bare-knuckle heavyweight Bobby Gunn also fought, knocking out Irineu Beato Costa Jr. in 41 seconds.

Cheyenne resident Bryan Pedersen, an MMA fighter and former state lawmaker, successfully sponsored a bill in 2012 to create a state board of mixed martial arts - the first state to do so. While MMA was thriving, bare-knuckle competition wasn't even considered when the law was passed. However, Wyoming jumped at the chance to host Bare Knuckle Fight Championships action after 28 other states passed.

The International Boxing Hall of Fame said the last significant bare-knuckle bout was July 8, 1889, when John L. Sullivan went 75 rounds to beat Jake Kilrain. Even that event was illegal and had to be staged under the cover of secrecy as most states had outlawed the non-gloved version of boxing.

Fighting was forced underground until 2011, when the Yavapai Nation sanctioned a match that Gunn won over Richard Stewart at the tribe's reservation in Arizona. The bout drew more than a million viewers, and the promoter of that event and the Wyoming one, David Feldman, realized there was a hungry market for bare-knuckle fights within the combat sports fanbase. It took him another seven years to find a state willing to sanction the next event.

Wyoming became the first state to sanction and regulate the activity sport its commission reviewed research that indicated bare-knuckle boxing would be safer than other combat sports, especially when it comes to concussions, Pedersen said, adding that the commission, which he chairs, spent about a year developing the new rules governing the sport. He also viewed Saturday's competition, and future bouts, as a way to generate economic diversity and promote the Cowboy State and its strong sense of Western independence.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The first ever state-sanctioned bare-knuckle boxing match got a bloody ending Saturday night — and a big response from a rowdy crowd.

Arnold Adams, a 32-year-old MMA heavyweight, pounded ex-UFC fighter D.J. Linderman’s face into a bloody mess in front of 2,000 loud and wild fans at a hockey rink that usually hosts birthday parties and skating lessons in Wyoming’s capital.

Adams used an effective left jab to win a technical knockout. The ringside doctor stopped the match after the second round.

Tens of thousands more tuned in for the pay-per-view event, which featured 10 bouts, including four heavyweight fights in a tournament format.

Fans were lined up outside more than an hour before the first major bare-knuckle event in the U.S. since 1889. Forrest Peters, from Cheyenne, was among those in attendance. He came to cheer Estevan Payan — who served in the same Army unit as Peters — and to witness history.

“With the bare-knuckle fighting and everything, having them bring it back for the first time in over 100 years, you knew it’s pretty exciting to see,” Peters said, “and especially having it here in Cheyenne, kinda out here where the West is still a little wild.”

Payan didn’t disappoint, flooring Omar Velar at 1:57 of the opening round of a 145-pound Super Fight.

Winners in the heavyweight division will head to a semifinal event in September, with the final two survivors set to clash in the first legalized bare-knuckle heavyweight championship match later in the year. The subsequent matches will also be held at the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center since no other state has wanted the sport.

Other fighters included former heavyweight kickboxers Eric Prindle and Maurice Jackson, who won by TKO over Dale Sopi at 1:10 of the first round.

The card also featured former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez and legendary underground fighter Bobby Gunn along with former UFC contestants Johnny Bedford and Joe Riggs. An all-female match between Bec Rawlings and Alma Garcia was also scheduled.

“Wyoming was the first state to grant women the right to vote, so it’s only fitting that Wyoming should host the first bare-knuckle fight between women,” said Bryan Pedersen, chairman of the Wyoming Sport Combat Commission. “You can read about history or you can make history, and we’re going to make history tonight.”

Pedersen, an MMA fighter and former state lawmaker, successfully sponsored a bill in 2012 to create a state board of mixed martial arts — the first state to do so — to provide governance, promote safety and bring a sport he loves to his home state.

While MMA was thriving, bare-knuckle competition wasn’t even considered when the law was passed. However, Wyoming jumped at the chance to host Bare Knuckle Fight Championships action after 28 other states passed.

Bare-knuckle competition is a skill sport with rules and regulations, Pedersen said. Many of the rules are similar to boxing, but besides the obvious lack of gloves, fighters are also free to use the back of the fist or hammer blows. They can also fight in a clinch and can hook an opponent’s arm as long as he or she is actually fighting. Unlike MMA, competitors cannot kick or knee an opponent.

Promoters of this gloveless brand of pugilism claim the event is safer because contestants resist inflicting a hard blow that will injure their hands. Leather gloves tend to leave larger cuts and bruises.

The boxers are allowed wraps around their thumbs and wrists but don’t wear any protection over their knuckles. Each bout in Cheyenne was scheduled for five 3-minute rounds in a circular ring instead of the traditional square. Ringside doctors are required at state-sanctioned bouts.

The International Boxing Hall of Fame said the last significant bare-knuckle bout was July 8, 1889, when John L. Sullivan went 75 rounds to beat Jake Kilrain. Even that event was illegal and had to be staged under the cover of secrecy as most states had outlawed the non-gloved version of boxing. Fighting was forced underground until 2011, when the Yavapai Nation sanctioned a match that Gunn won over Richard Stewart at the tribe’s reservation in Arizona. The bout drew more than a million viewers, and the promoter of that event and the Wyoming one, David Feldman, realized there was a hungry market for bare-knuckle fights within the combat sports fanbase. It took him another seven years to find a state willing to sanction the next event.

Wyoming became the first state to sanction and regulate the activity after its commission reviewed research that indicated bare-knuckle boxing would be safer than other combat sports, especially when it comes to concussions, Pedersen said, adding that the commission spent about a year developing the new rules governing the sport. He also viewed Saturday’s competition, and future bouts, as a way to generate economic diversity and promote the Cowboy State and its strong sense of Western independence.</s>Bobby Gunn punched his bare fists downward into the table in front of him, rattling glasses and silverware while getting the room’s attention at a New York steakhouse.

Gunn wasn’t angry, he just was demonstrating one of his unique training methods ahead of his next fight.

“I’ll take my knuckles to a hardwood floor for 20 minutes maybe,” Gunn said. “Break all the calluses out, which for me they already are.”

It’s an unconventional training method, but Gunn’s next bout isn’t exactly conventional either. The 44-year-old pro boxer will be among the fighters taking part Saturday in the first sanctioned bare knuckle boxing event in the United States since 1889. Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship debuts at Cheyenne Ice and Events Center in Wyoming, the first and only state willing to sanction bare knuckle fighting at this point. The fight will air on pay-per-view and stream on FITE.TV for $29.99.

“We want to build a business and build a new combat sport,” CEO and founder David Feldman said. “We’re here to make a statement that we’re here to stay. This isn’t about doing just one show just to do a show.”

Along with Gunn, who’s made a living in the underground bare knuckle scene, BKFC’s first event features all professional boxers and MMA fighters, including former UFC strawweight Bec Rawlings and former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez.

Fighting out of Staten Island by way of New Jersey, Rodriguez says he hasn’t been in an organized bare knuckle fight before, but he believes his life has him prepared and that this form of combat will be relatable to fans who’ve seen themselves in similar situations.

“I’m from Paterson, New Jersey. I lived three blocks away from Eastside High, Joe Clark. It didn’t matter if you were white, black, Russian, Puerto Rican — everybody fought on the street,” Rodriguez said. “P.S. 24, I fought all the time, and if you didn’t fight or if you won or lost, that’s how you got respect on the street. At the end of the day, my bare knuckle days were in the streets. It was in a circle of people, nobody ever jumped in, nobody ever used a gun, nobody ever used a bat. You scrap, win or lose, you got up, shook each other’s hand and that’s it, that’s the truth.”

Bare knuckle boxing was the primary form of competition in the early days with the London Prize Ring Rules largely governing the sport. The Marquess of Queensberry Rules, which mandated gloves, eventually superseded the London rules in America with the legendary John L. Sullivan fighting the last bare knuckle world title bout in 1889.

BKFC will use a ruleset different than the London rules but designed to retain the purity of those fights of old. Boxers are not permitted any covering on the knuckles, but can tape their wrists and thumbs for stability. Bouts will take place in a circular boxing ring unique to the promotion and are scheduled for either five or seven two-minute rounds with nine rounds scheduled for championship fights. Each round begins with both fighters standing three feet apart at the ring’s center. Punches are the only offensive weapon permitted, but clinch fighting and holding the back of the opponent’s head is allowed with referees breaking the action if there is three seconds of inactivity.

“Everything that we did with this whole setup and production had to be a little different. We didn’t want anybody getting confused that this is boxing or mixed martial arts,” Feldman said. “That’s why we decided on the circle ring and that’s why we did different round settings. We just wanted to set ourselves apart in all the rulesets and the fighting platform and everything that has to do with this really.”

Gunn said it’s important to remember that this is an entirely different sport than boxing with its own strategy and skillset.

“Bare knuckle boxing you have to pick your spots more, there’s more body shots,” Gunn said. “You only have a three-inch gap in bare knuckle boxing from the eyebrows down to the nose. Down there you’ll bust your hand on their teeth, above the eyebrow you can shatter your hand on their forehead. So the fights are more scientifically efficient. You go to the body, you go for the jab in the right area.”

Although there hasn’t been a true world title in bare knuckle in over a century, Gunn claims the lineal heavyweight title and says the sport has thrived in the shadows for years.

“Bare knuckle boxing has always been in the underground for hundreds of years. I fought in the underground circuit and beat everybody from California to New York, all over America for 11 years,” Gunn said. “I can’t mention names, but I’ve seen top contenders in boxing come down and fight bare knuckle to get a few bucks extra for their family or something. “

The Canadian claims an unbeaten bare knuckle record of 73-0. He also has a pro boxing record of 21-7-1 (plus 1 no contest) with 18 knockouts, including fights against Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney.

Gunn said he always preferred the bare knuckle scene.

“It’s a different world, but it’s a world I always felt more comfortable in. It’s a world where there’s so many good athletes who fight bare knuckle,” Gunn said. “A lot of times a good bare knuckle fighter can’t be good at boxing. It’s a different business.”

At 44, Gunn knows he doesn’t have much time left in the sport, but he’s thrilled to be advancing the sport he loves.

“This is a platform for it to be legalized, sanctioned, not get in trouble, not having the police come in and raid the place. The places we fought in, man, were empty warehouses and back buildings, we had to do that we had to do,” Gunn said. “I’m paving the road to give those underground a platform to be above the ground.”</s>"Wyoming was the first state to grant women the right to vote, so it's only fitting that Wyoming should host the first bare-knuckle fight between women," said Bryan Pedersen, chairman of the Wyoming Sport Combat Commission. "You can read about history or you can make history, and we're going to make history tonight."

Pedersen, an MMA fighter and former state lawmaker, successfully sponsored a bill in 2012 to create a state board of mixed martial arts — the first state to do so — to provide governance, promote safety and bring a sport he loves to his home state.

While MMA was thriving, bare-knuckle competition wasn't even considered when the law was passed. However, Wyoming jumped at the chance to host Bare Knuckle Fight Championships action after 28 other states passed.

Bare-knuckle competition is a skill sport with rules and regulations, Pedersen said. Many of the rules are similar to boxing, but besides the obvious lack of gloves, fighters are also free to use the back of the fist or hammer blows. They can also fight in a clinch and can hook an opponent's arm as long as he or she is actually fighting. Unlike MMA, competitors cannot kick or knee an opponent.

Promoters of this gloveless brand of pugilism claim the event is safer because contestants resist inflicting a hard blow that will injure their hands. Leather gloves tend to leave larger cuts and bruises.

The boxers are allowed wraps around their thumbs and wrists but don't wear any protection over their knuckles. Each bout in Cheyenne was scheduled for five 3-minute rounds in a circular ring instead of the traditional square. Ringside doctors are required at state-sanctioned bouts.

The International Boxing Hall of Fame said the last significant bare-knuckle bout was July 8, 1889, when John L. Sullivan went 75 rounds to beat Jake Kilrain. Even that event was illegal and had to be staged under the cover of secrecy as most states had outlawed the non-gloved version of boxing. Fighting was forced underground until 2011, when the Yavapai Nation sanctioned a match that Gunn won over Richard Stewart at the tribe's reservation in Arizona. The bout drew more than a million viewers, and the promoter of that event and the Wyoming one, David Feldman, realized there was a hungry market for bare-knuckle fights within the combat sports fanbase. It took him another seven years to find a state willing to sanction the next event.

Wyoming became the first state to sanction and regulate the activity after its commission reviewed research that indicated bare-knuckle boxing would be safer than other combat sports, especially when it comes to concussions, Pedersen said, adding that the commission spent about a year developing the new rules governing the sport. He also viewed Saturday's competition, and future bouts, as a way to generate economic diversity and promote the Cowboy State and its strong sense of Western independence.

By Rob Black, The Associated Press</s>The gloves were off -- literally -- over the weekend in Wyoming, and it got bloody.

The Cheyenne Ice and Events Center in Cheyenne played host to bare-knuckle boxing on Saturday night. The event was “[b]illed as the first legal, sanctioned and state-regulated bare-knuckle event in U.S. history,” USA Today reported.

Three matches from Saturday night exceeded three rounds, the newspaper said. The pay-per-view event consisted of 10 bouts total.

In one match-up, Californians Tony Lopez and Joey Beltran reportedly faced off for five rounds.

"The knuckles was nothing," Lopez, who lost the fight, said. “... I’ve always wanted to fight with no gloves. Got a chance to do it here.”

The International Boxing Hall of Fame said the last significant bare-knuckle bout was July 8, 1889, when John L. Sullivan went 75 rounds to beat Jake Kilrain. The event was illegal and had to be staged under the cover of secrecy as most states had outlawed the non-gloved version of boxing.

Such fighting was forced underground until 2011, when the Yavapai Nation sanctioned a match at the tribe’s Arizona reservation.

The bout drew more than a million viewers, and the promoter of that event and the Wyoming one, David Feldman, realized there was a hungry market for bare-knuckle fights within the combat sports fanbase. It took him another seven years to find a state willing to sanction the next event.

MMAjunkie described the event as "three hours of bloody entertainment, with only a few lulls in the action."

Feldman is the president of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and spoke to the outlet about the Saturday event.

“It felt like a good night, and everybody fought their a--es off,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>(AP Photo/Bob Moen). In this Thursday, May 31, 2018, photo, promoter David Feldman, center, prepares for a news conference for a bare-knuckle boxing event that is scheduled for Saturday night at the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center in Wyoming. Wyoming is...

(AP Photo/File). FILE - From left to right, old time fighters Jim Corbett, John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain pose in undated photos. In 1889, John L. Sullivan, known as the Boston Strong Boy, beat Jake Kilrain in 75 rounds, yes, 75, in what the Interna...

(AP Photo/Bob Moen). In this Thursday, May 31, 2018 photo, fighter Bobby Gunn, left, and Bryan Pedersen, chairman of the Wyoming State Board of Mixed Martial Arts, speak with reporters during a news conference to promote a bare-knuckle boxing event tha...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - In 1889, the great John L. Sullivan, the Boston Strong Boy, beat Jake Kilrain in 75 rounds - yes, 75 - in what the International Boxing Hall of Fame has called the "last significant bare-knuckle bout in boxing."

Since then, about the only gloves-off fighting many people have witnessed has consisted of barroom brawls.

But on Saturday night, 10 bouts of bare-knuckle boxing, including one involving female fighters, will take place at the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center.

The event, available on pay-per-view, is being promoted as the first legal, regulated and sanctioned bare-knuckle fight event in U.S. history. Back in Sullivan's day, there were no sanctioning bodies and few if any regulations.

"I think it's what the public wants to see. The public is begging for something new," promoter David Feldman said, noting that it has been 25 years since the advent of UFC mixed martial arts. "We're hopefully leading the way to a new era in combat sports."

The boxers will be allowed wraps around their thumbs and wrists but will not wear any protection over their knuckles the way fighters normally do in traditional boxing, MMA or other combat sports where padded gloves of various thickness are used.

Each bout is scheduled for five, 2-minute rounds, fought in a ring with rounded ropes instead of the traditional square.

Bare-knuckle regulations are otherwise similar to those of glove boxing, in that opponents can only throw punches and there's a standing eight count and a three-knockdown rule.

"But when you're in a clinch, you can hit with the open hand. You can pull the back of their neck into punches," Feldman said. "So it gives a little bit more excitement in the clinches."

ESPN boxing columnist Nigel Collins said gloves - originally known as mufflers - were introduced around the 18th century to help protect fighters' hands and the aristocrats who took up the sport.

Collins said he personally isn't interested in bare-knuckle fighting "but I wouldn't knock it. If that's what people want to do, let them do it." He said it would be hypocritical of fans of boxing and other martial arts to object to the danger and brutality.

Feldman's Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships organization has been trying to get bare-knuckle boxing sanctioned in a number of states. The Wyoming State Board of Mixed Martial Arts, created in 2012, was the first to do so.

Board chairman Bryan Pedersen said the board received no opposition and saw the event as an opportunity to provide better safety than is afforded at unregulated bare-knuckle fights. Ringside doctors, for instance, are required at state-sanctioned bouts.

The board reviewed research that indicated bare-knuckle boxing would be safer than other combat sports, especially when it comes to concussions, Pedersen said.

"If you look at what we already regulate in the state of Wyoming - we regulate kickboxing and MMA, right?" he said. "In those two, you could take an elbow to the head, a knee to the head or a shin kick to the head. And go out in your yard and punch a basketball and kick a basketball and see what goes farther."

Fighter Bobby Gunn, who is on the card Saturday night, said Wyoming is bringing a sport that exists underground into the light of day.

"I don't got to worry about being arrested," Gunn said with a laugh.

Pedersen sees advantages for the state of Wyoming as well: "I see the whole thing as a giant economic possibility for diversity in our state and to really help promote the Cowboy State and our strong sense of Western independence."

Ricco Rodriguez, a former UFC champion who is making his first try at bare-knuckle boxing on Saturday, said it seems safer to him than gloved fighting because the athletes know they have to be more careful not to injure their hands.

"You hit an elbow or you hit the back of the head or something, you're liable to definitely break your hand," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said his training for Saturday included conditioning his hands by punching wood dummies and doing pushups on his knuckles.

He said he likes the idea of being involved in building a new combat sport. Also, he said, "I think it's the purest form of fighting."

Feldman said that when people first hear about bare-knuckle returning as a sport, it always draws a reaction.

"Because of that reaction, we're going to shock the world Saturday night," he said.

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The first legal bare-knuckle boxing match in U.S. history, titled the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships, takes place in Cheyenne, Wyoming.