Mike Perry vs. Thiago Alves headlines BKFC KnuckleMania 4 in April

Mike Perry makes his return to bare-knuckle boxing on April 27 when he faces fellow UFC veteran Thiago Alves in the main event for BKFC KnuckleMania 4 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

In the co-main event, Ben Rothwell faces off with Todd Duffee in a heavyweight showdown. Both fights were announced by BKFC president David Feldman during an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour.

The event serves as the first-ever BKFC card in California after the state recently voted to approve sanctioning for bare-knuckle fighting.

Since arriving in BKFC, Perry quickly became the face of the promotion, putting together a perfect 4-0 record that included wins over Eddie Alvarez, Luke Rockhold, and Michael Page. This past August, Perry inked a lucrative new multi-fight deal to stay with BKFC prior to a stoppage win over Alvarez in December, which crowned the first ever “King of Violence.”

Now he’ll face off with Alves, who makes his first appearance in BKFC since winning the inaugural middleweight BKFC title with a knockout victory over Uly Diaz in 2021. Alves holds a 2-0 record overall in bare-knuckle competition, but following his last appearance, he remained at odds with BKFC over a new contract.

He was ultimately stripped of the title, but now Alves returns for an even bigger matchup with Perry in April.

As for the co-main event, Rothwell and Duffee are scheduled to fight for the second time after their first bout was delayed. The matchup between UFC veterans was originally scheduled this past December, but Rothwell fell ill during event week and was unable to compete.

Feldman also announced that Lorenzo Hunt will vacate his titles at cruiserweight and light heavyweight to move up to heavyweight, where he’ll face reigning champion Mick Terrill in April.

Social influencer Bryce Hall will also make his second appearance in BKFC against an opponent still to be determined.

More fights for the upcoming BKFC KnuckleMania 4 card will be announced in the coming weeks.