The World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation’s (WBKFF) inaugural event, “Rise of the Titans,” is set for this Friday night (Nov. 9) at Casper Events Center in Casper, Wyoming.
A stacked main card, headlined by a WBKFF middleweight title fight between Johny “Big Rigg” Hendricks and “Irish” Brennan Ward, as well as Chris “The Crippler” Leben and “The New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni for the WBKFF light heavyweight crown, will be available to watch LIVE on pay-per-view.
Integrated Sports Media will distribute the “Rise of the Titans” main card throughout North America, commencing at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT, on cable, satellite and digital pay-per-view via iN Demand, Vubiquity, DIRECTV and DISH in the United States, as well as Rogers, Shaw, Bell TV and SaskTel in Canada, and live-streamed worldwide on the FITE.TV app and website, for a suggested retail price of $29.95.
The PPV main card will also feature Ultimate Fighter runner-up Christina Marks against professional boxer Jasmine Clarkson for the WBKFF Women’s Bantamweight Championship, Las Vegas middleweight Joey Angelo takes on Albuquerque’s Julian “Nitrane” Lane, former UFC and Bellator fighter Josh “The Dentist” Neer faces light heavyweight Albuquerque boxer “Mad” Mike Alderete, and California heavyweight C.J. “The Night” Leveque vs. New Mexico’s Juan Torres is the PPV swing bout.
Retired All-Pro linebacker Shawne “Lights Out” Merriman has withdrawn from fighting on Friday evening’s show.
WBKFF will also launch its $100,000 Lightweight Tournament, showcasing eight fighters on the PPV main card in four separate quarterfinals bouts, on the PPV main card. The loaded tournament field includes MMA veterans Nick “The Ghost” Gonzalez, Ireland-native Jay “The Mellow Fellow” Cucciniello, Estevan “El Terrible” Payan, Robbie “Problems” Peralta, Mike “The Greek Assassin” Bronzoulis, South African Leon “The Iron Lion” Mynhardt and Zach “The Juice” Juusola, in addition to Kazakh boxer Radmir Akhmediyev.
A blind draw to determine the quarterfinals matchups will be held this Wednesday (Nov. 7) at the “Rise of the Titans” final press conference in Casper.
A solid three-fight “Rise of the Titans” preliminary card will precede the PPV event, available to watch on a free Preview, starting at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT, live on FITE.TV, as well as via DIRECTV and DISH pay-per-view channels leading up to the main card on PPV.
The preliminary card’s entertaining match-ups are Issac Vallie-Flagg vs. Cory Simpson, contested at a 175-pound catchweight, Brazilian middleweight Marcel “Mello” Alfaya vs. Dakota Cochrane, and super lightweight Fred Pierce vs. Jeff Chiffens.
Hall of Fame ring announcer Jimmy Lennon, Jr. and the WBKFF all-star announcing team – Bas Rutten, Kenny Rice and Jessica Penne — will work the PPV and preliminary cards.
