'The Russian Hammer' Artem Lobov kicked off his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship career with a hard-earned decision win over fellow former UFC star Jason 'The Kid' Knight, but as his pics show, he didn't come out unscathed. The Ireland-based Russian fighter took on Knight in the main event of the Bare Knuckle FC 5 event at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi. And the pair went toe to toe for five full rounds in a bout that left men cut, battered and bruised after an action-packed contest that won the respect of those watching, as well as each other. Lobov ran out the unanimous decision winner, earning scores of 48-47, 48-47 and 48-46 to claim the victory. WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS I may have got robbed and not got W but @RusHammerMMA on the way to the ICU may tell a different story! Much respect to him for a Great War! @bareknucklefc!! pic.twitter.com/JFVCTYG7SX — Jason TheKid Knight (@Jasonthekid23) April 7, 2019 I still look good! Respect to @RusHammerMMA He went to ICU after a war on PPV @bareknucklefc!! pic.twitter.com/8t4v6rqrzW — Jason TheKid Knight (@Jasonthekid23) April 7, 2019 The lead-up to Lobov's Bare Knuckle debut was overshadowed by a skirmish between The Russian Hammer and former two-division world boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi, who has also signed to the promotion. Also on rt.com 'Malignaggi was too easy for McGregor, he won't be a problem for me': Artem Lobov (VIDEO) The pair look set to be on a collision course for a bout later this year after Malignaggi slapped Lobov during a media event earlier in the week. The Bare Knuckle 5 event on Saturday night featured a host of former UFC stars who enjoyed a mixed night of results at the event. Former castmate on The Ultimate Fighter Season 1, Chris Leben, claimed a 25-second knockout victory in the night's co-main event bout while another former TUF housemate, Johnny Bedford, earned a KO of his own in the fourth round of his contest. It wasn't such a good night for former UFC heavyweight Chase Sherman, who fought opponent Sam Shewmaker to a split draw, despite winning all five rounds on one judge's scorecard. The overall scores read 50-45 (Sherman), 48-48 (Shewmaker), 48-48.<doc-sep>Artem Lobov successfully set up his Bare Knuckle showdown with Paulie Malignaggi. In a bloody and entertaining battle, Artem Lobov and Jason Knight went the distance with Lobov taking the unanimous decision at Bare Knuckle FC 5 on Saturday night in Biloxi, Miss. Lobov got the win via 48-47, 47-47, 48-46 scores on the judges’ scorecards. In the main event, Lobov knocked down Knight in each of the first three rounds. Lobov was only knocked down in the first round. “I’ll let my face do the talking. I thought he was gone there many times. He’s a tough, tough kid. He kept coming and coming,” Lobov said. Knight didn’t agree with the decision after the fight. “We all know I didn’t lose that damn fight. We all know I got robbed,” Knight said. BKFC president CEO David Feldman said Lobov and Malignaggi are likely set for Bare Knuckle 6 on June 22. “Malignaggi is a little pu**y who plucks his eyebrows. I’m going to spark him,” Lobov said. In the co-main event, Chris Leben overwhelmed Justin Baesman in the first round, scoring a 25-second knockout. Leben improved to 2-0 in bare knuckle action. Other notable wins were by Isaac Vallie-Flagg (third-round TKO of Randy Hederick) and Johnny Bedford (fourth-round TKO of Abdiel Velazquez). Fellow UFC veteran Chase Sherman earned a split draw against Sam Shewmaker in his fight. Get all of Bare Knuckle 5 results here.<doc-sep>Bare Knuckle FC 5 just concluded from Biloxi, Mississippi. Artem Lobov and Jason Knight went to war in the main event, and both men had their moments in the fight. Lobov knocked Knight down three times, and it looked like in the fifth Knight could run away with it as Lobov was visibly exhausted. However it was Lobov who would pick up the decision victory on the night. It was then confirmed that Artem would fight ex-world champion boxer Paulie Malignaggi on June 22nd, at a location TBD. In the co-main event, Chris Leben started off his BKFC career with a 25-second knockout over Justin Baesman. A brutal onslaught by Christine Ferea in the second round left Britain Hart with a busted up left eye that led to the fight being waved off. Sam Shewmaker and Chase Sherman fought to a split draw. Reggie Barnett’s unanimous decision win over Rusty Crowder left BKFC president David Feldman with a sour taste in his mouth, he came into the ring after the fight to announce Crowder will be handing half his fight purse to Barnett for the lack of action on his behalf in the fight. Dave Feldman, president of @bareknucklefc just entered the ring at #BKFC5 to announce half of Rusty Crowder's purse will go to Reggie Barnett because, "We want action, and we demand action from the fighters." pic.twitter.com/fMiIXZPGWp — MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) April 7, 2019 A broken hand in the third round meant Isaac Vallie-Flagg was awarded a TKO victory over Randy Hendrick. Johny Bedford kicked off the main card with a bang, knocking down Abdiel Velasquez twice in the second round and eventually getting the knockout in the fourth round. Main card: Artem Lobov def. Jason Knight by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-46) A check left hook from Knight dropped Lobov, despite him protesting it wasn’t a knockdown. The first round continued its frantic action as Lobov then scored a knockdown on Knight, and blood started to pour from the right eye of “The Kid.” A fight seemed to break out in the crowd at the beginning of the second round, shortly after Lobov landed another knockdown. In the third round Lobov continued his success, landing a lot of heavy shots on Knight that took a toll on his face as he was badly bruised by the end of the third. Lobov landed his third knockdown of the fight in the third, Lobov got cut in the fourth when both men started to throw haymakers as they threw defense out the window. In the fifth round Knight looked like he would get the finish when Lobov was exhausted and could barely defend himself, but Lobov hung on and prevailed on the scorecards. Chris Leben def. Justin Baesman by KO at :25 of round 1 Both men charged towards each other at the beginning of the fight, but it was evident that Leben had the advantage in terms of the power department in this fight. Leben backed up Baesman against the ropes with his punches, and as Baesman began to cover-up Leben unloaded a series of devastating uppercuts that dropped Baesman, and he was unable to beat the count. Christine Ferea def. Britain Hart by TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 1:09 of round 2 Little action took place in the first round, but Ferea looked to be the stronger of the two women during the exchanges. The action begun to pick up in the second round as both women began to swing wildly in the pocket. A ferocious onslaught from Ferea in the second round stunned Hart, but she remained on her feet. However, the exchange left Hart with a bloody and bruised left eye which caused the fight to be stopped and Ferea became win BKFC’s inaugural women’s 125-pound champion. Sam Shewmaker and Chase Sherman fight to split draw (45-50, 48-47, 48-48) Both men started the first round trying to figure out each other’s range. Sherman fired off some good straights when level changing his way into range. Sherman upped his striking output in the second round and started to unload more heavy shots on Shoemaker. Shoemaker dictated the pace and range of the fight, but at the end of the fourth both men ditch their technical striking and begin to throw heavy leather. They finished the fifth round in the same way, trading big punches but both men remained on their feet. Reggie Barnett def Rusty Crowder by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44) Barnett started off the aggressor with Crowder looking nervy on the back foot, but Crowder then did ome good work on the inside up against the ropes. A slip at the end of first round saw Crowder go down. The second round started and continued to be quite scrappy, with both men winging heavy punches. Barnett fought much less technical then he did in the first round. Crowder was deducted a point in the third for throwing Barnett to the canvas. Big shots landed by Barnett in the fifth as Crowder finished the fight the way he begun it, on the retreat. Barnett advances to the lightweight tournament final against Johnny Bedford. Isaac Vallie-Flagg def. Randy Hederick by TKO (broken hand) at 1:22 of round 3 Vallie-Flagg found success fighting on the inside, Hendrick seemed to be getting caught a lot with uppercuts as he ducked his head down whilst coming into range. Hendrick started off round three with a massive combination that set Vallie-Flagg on the back foot immediately. Vallie-Flagg quickly bounced back scoring a knockdown against Hendrick, some left hand pain seemed to be troubled. Vallie-Flagg then dropped Hendrick again and although he beat the count, he claimed his hand was broken and therefore the referee rightfully stopped the fight midway through round three. Johnny Bedford def. Abdiel Velasquez by KO at :15 of round 4 Round one proved to be a back-and-forth slugfest, with Bedford clocking Velasquez with a right hand that had his opponent momentarily stunned. Velasquez answered back with several good punches of his own, and Bedford spent part of the round urging Velasquez to go toe-to-toe with him in the inner circle within the BKFC ring. A check hook by Velasquez opened up a cut on Bedford. Bedford scored two knockdowns in the second-round, one that was a combination of a push and a left hook, while the other was a clean left hook. The former UFC fighter scored another knockdown in round three with a right hand, sealed the deal with a flurry of shots early in round four to advance to the lightweight tournament final.<doc-sep>
It was a blood and guts performance from both Artem Lobov and Jason Knight in the main event of Bare Knuckle FC 5. The two former UFC fighters beat each other to pulp across five two minute rounds with the bout going back and forth numerous times with lots of knockdowns. But in the end it was Artem Lobov who was awarded the judge’s decision with scores of 48-47, 48-47, and 48-46. Lobov started the fight out strong, cutting Jason Knight’s face up in the first. By the third round Knight’s face was a mess of blood and Vaseline with Lobov’s punches causing sprays of liquid to rain down in the ring. But Knight got his own damage in, rocking Lobov several times and nearly taking him out in the fourth round. But Lobov was the more strategic of the two, tying up when he was in trouble to recover. In the fifth he seemed to run out of gas, but a similarly exhausted Jason Knight was unable to take advantage and put him away. Folks, Jason Knight is getting f**ked up. #BKFC5 pic.twitter.com/aa2aXr0zAN — Fight Night Tweets & GIFS W/Jeremy Ginger (@jginger77) April 7, 2019 This is a hell of a fight. I hope you are watching.#BKFC5 pic.twitter.com/x9UX4VYLlY — Fight Night Tweets & GIFS W/Jeremy Ginger (@jginger77) April 7, 2019 In his post fight interview, Knight protested the decision. ”We all know I didn’t lose that damn fight,” he said to cheers from his hometown crowd. “We all know I got robbed. It’s okay, I’m still gonna party tonight.” It’s hard to know how to score it. Both men fell and were knocked down multiple times, with no clear count being kept by the commentary team. Both men rocked each other on multiple occasions. But Artem Lobov undoubtedly mangled Jason Knight’s face worse, and seemed to connect with more punishing shots more frequently. Speaking of Lobov, he confirmed he was ready to face former boxing champ Paulie Malignaggi at a future Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship event. The two had a run in on fight week with Malignaggi slapping Lobov during a faceoff. ”Let’s do it,” Lobov said. “He’s a little pussy that plucks his eyebrows. I’m going to spark him.” While what we witnessed was an impressive display of grit, we don’t know whether that would go well for Lobov. Malignaggi is a former IBF junior welterweight and WBA welterweight champion. He’s threatened to permanently damage Lobov. Not that it’ll stop the fight from going down anyway. There’s already a date set: June 22nd. What do you think, Maniacs? Excited for Lobov vs. Malignaggi?