BKFC 61 Betting Preview: Pair of Former UFC Fighters Step Into Main Event

May 7, 2024

2 weeks

BKFC61_Rivera_vs_Straus_web_1800x685 - Boxing News

How the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship has pulled in some recognizable names in combat sports to compete has been surprising. BKFC 61 this Saturday was supposed to feature a former World Boxing Organization champion, Heather Hardy, taking on BKFC women’s flyweight champion Christine Ferea. An injury forced the fight to be postponed to a later event.

But no worry, the consolation prize for the fanbase was seeing former UFC fighter Jimmie Rivera and two-time Bellator featherweight champion Daniel Straus to battle in a featherweight bout. Online boxing news shows that Rivera comes from a wrestling background.

Rivera has been busy since leaving the UFC in August 2021. Rivera has fought three times in the BKFC, compiling a 1-1-1 record. Rivera lost his last fight against another former UFC veteran, Jeremy Stephens, due to a doctor’s stoppage in the second round.

Interestingly, Rivera also graduated from the New Jersey police academy in 2023. Straus had a bizarre debut in BKFC in April 2023. He fought Dat Nguyen in a fight that was ruled a draw after five rounds.

Instead of having the fight end in a draw, BKFC held a sixth round, which Nguyen won to pick up a unanimous decision. Straus was also a decorated high school wrestler before getting involved with mixed martial arts. This fight is interesting because neither man has found sustained success in the BKFC.

This one may end up going the distance. Neither man was known as a knockout artist during their MMA career. Back this one to go the distance, and the slight lean on this fight is Rivera to win because of his more experience.

Bets to consider: Fight to go the distance, Rivera ML

Reber Ready to Rumble

Ryan Reber has carved out a unique story during his time in the BKFC. He has piled up a 5-0 record to stay on the promotion’s radar. But a few of his fights have also featured bizarre circumstances.

At BFKC 32, he was headbutted repeatedly and later fought Jack Grady after the fight was waived off. It took dozens of officials to pull Reber and Grady apart. BKFC hopes Reber’s bantamweight fight with Anthony Foye will go smoother for all involved.

Foye, 32, is four years younger than Reber and hasn’t quite found his rhythm in the sport. Before signing with the BKFC, Foye attempted to get into MMA. However, he never broke through on the professional level.

Foye prefers to fight with a high pace and likes to pressure his opponents. That should make for a fun, stylistic matchup with Reber.

Bets to consider: Reber by decision

Things Never Click for American Fighter

Sara Click is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan. She developed an interest in fighting while serving in the military, but her combat sports career hasn’t seen her toughness translate to the ring or octagon.

Overall, Click has lost her last six boxing matches, which were a combination of bare-knuckle and traditional gloved boxing matches. She is 0-3 in BKFC and last won in a traditional boxing match against Liz Humphries at Springfield Championship Boxing 2 in March 2023.

Click hopes to turn things around against BKFC newcomer Natalie Gage. Gage has a background in Brazilian jiu jitsu and put together a 3-1 record in amateur MMA fights. Gage grew up training in ballet and put much time into her cardio.

She has spent the past year attempting to sharpen up her striking. Gage will have a challenge on her hands attempting to attack Click, who prefers to counter her opponents. This is a tough fight to call, but Click’s experience may carry her to an ugly decision win.

Bets to consider: Fight to go the distance, Click by decision

Hawn Plans Jump to BKFC

Rick Hawn decided to be done with MMA a long time ago. But Hawn, a former Bellator welterweight title challenger, came back in 2022 to fight on the regional scene. While Hawn took a submission loss, MMAfighting latest news shows that he wanted to get back into the game.

Hawn signing with BKFC was a bit of a surprise. He was mostly known as someone with strong judo skills in MMA. Hawn will fight Scott Lampert in a welterweight fight this weekend. Lampert has a lot more experience in the boxing realm.

He has fought 15 times in boxing and entered the fight with Hawn. While Lampert lost his debut against Mike Heckert at BKFC 53, Lampert may have the advantage in this fight because of his career experience.

Robinson Ready for His Close-Up

Because of BKFC’s nature, a few fighters will always appear on the card, seemingly out of the blue. Robinson Perez is a heavyweight fighter whose record includes two professional boxing fighters. It will be hard to anticipate what he can accidentally bring to the ring.

Perez fought the same fighter twice and won majority decisions in both contests at Philly Fight Night 2 and 3 respectively. For his first fight in UFC, Perez will fight Matt Adams, who has a deeper professional resume. Adams is 2-1 as a professional MMA fighter and also has five amateur fights under his belt.

Adams had a tough debut bout in BKFC when he had to fight former UFC fighter, Juan Adams. While Matt Adams’ first fight didn’t go how he hoped, this could be a good opportunity to gain some momentum according to heavyweight boxing news.

Bets to consider: Fight to end in the first round, Matt Adams by knockout

Here’s a look at the rest of the fights on the card: