NASHVILLE! Here in Music City the fighters definitely but the beats on their opponents. Friday, June 19, 2026, The Pinnacle at Nashville Yards the gloves are off and the fists are flying. Watching Bare Knuckle fighting is a whole different atmosphere than watching a boxing match. Bare knuckle is BARE KNUCKLE no tape, just wrists wrapped mouth guards in and eyes locked on your opponent. If you have ever listened to the Florida deathcore band Slaughter to Prevail, This is what the lead singer Alex Terrible did. Did you see Alex The Terribles match?! It was brutal it was bloody it took my breath away. Watching BKFC feels like I am watching a fight club that we all know about because what’s the first rule of fight club, you do not talk about fight club If you don’t know where that quote is do you even know good cinema? BKFC has a smaller ring which means there is going to be a lot of action. The Pinnacle was a great venue they chose to host the BKF Championship. The venue is spacious enough with balcony seating that’s on a incline and makes viewing for everyone comfortable.
Robert Fichtner VS Joby Steffensmeier
Robert Fichtner VS Joby Steffensmeier started off the night with slow momentum swings and agility. By round two Steffensmeier was starting to swell up on the left side of his face after Fichtner was quick to get a jab in. With 30 seconds left in the 3rd round you can tell Steffensmeier was slowing down and getting tired. I mean rightfully so, I can only imagine the adrenaline dump that happens at the beginning of a match and after swiftly moving around calculating your opponents next move and getting hit in the face yeah I would slow down too! How ever the split decision the judges made to determine the winner it.. was.. JOBY! I was a bit thrown off by the announcement of Joby being the winner but his combinations and his distance control made the judges choose him over Fichtner. I was rooting for you WE ALL WERE ROOTING FOR YOU! Sorry Tyra Banks reference if you know you know.
Payton Hayes VS Julian Valencia
The Next match was Hayes VS Valencia and it was EXSPLOSIVE. This was Payton Hayes debut in BKFC and is a Nashville local! I was stunned to see how expeditious Hayes was landing all these strikes. Hayes is light on his feet and has an aggressive tactic, at the 38 second mark of the first round Valencia took a mean jab to the face. DID YOU SEE THAT LEFT HOOK?! He was HURT, Valencia went down and trying to regroup and then it happened at 1minute and 41 seconds the bell went off in the first round and PAYTON HAYES WINS HIS FIRST MATCH ON HIS DEBUT!! AND THE CROWD GOES WILDDDD! In a prefight interview Payton Hayes stated “I would rather lose an exciting fight than win a boring fight”, well sir that certainly wasn’t boring and a big congratulations on your victory! Just wow you can tell he trains hard and Hayes stated that he’s been training for 10 years for this! I am amazed all that conditioning training and everything in between came down to this moment and this victory, amazing.
Caleb Harvey VS Joshua Whiteside
With Harvey being from Nashville making his debut and Whiteside from Memphis it is a dual to see who wins the TN recognition from this match! Whiteside got into boxing at the age of 24 and outside of training runs marathons and loves competitive running. It’s safe to say that Whiteside has the cardio advantage against his opponents. Especially with Whiteside’s counter-punching heavy style. Caleb is a trainer and boxing coach in Franklin, TN at Title Boxing Club. Both skill sets and training from these fighters is going to make a interesting match and I can’t decide who will come out on top. I have my bet on Whiteside, how about you? With his Hands up high Whiteside blocks Harvey’s throws. Whiteside gets his hands in a gets Harvey in a brief head lock. Whiteside calculates Harvey and is keeping a steady and safe block from every facial strike being thrown at him. Joshua White really showed heart and resilience during this match. Both went all 3 rounds and by unanimous decision Caleb Harvey won.
Zach Russ VS Kelvin Rayford
Zach Russ VS Kelvin Rayford had immediate blood shed. Russ is 20 years old which makes him the youngest on his card and standing at 6’7” also makes him the tallest on his card. Rayford has a creative and unpredictable style that I am looking forward to seeing how he will be throwing down in this match! My hand was over my mouth for the full 45seconds of that match. Rayford hits the canvass but pops right back up and ready for action. Heavy feints back and forth that kept us all guessing. I have to say feints are my favorite tactic in fighting. Incase you don’t know, a Feint is a tactical move of deception making your opponent ready to block what they think is how you’re about to strike leaving them in a vulnerable position for you to execute your actual strike. Russ was out for blood from the moment he stepped in that ring! Non stop knuckle to face contact, it felt chaotic to me but in the way it was happening all so fast and then in a blink of an eye the match was over.
Bobby Taylor VS Angel Hernandez
Getting back to Nashville based Bare Knuckle fighters, we have Bobby Taylor VS Angel Hernandez. Bobby Taylor is a Nashville native and local fan favorite. The first round between the two opponents was absolute lighting! They kept with one another very well and are equal in skill set. Back and forth they go and all of a sudden droplets of blood are hitting the canvas and down goes Hernandez but he gets ups and you can see in his eyes he is locked in and ready. Both lock into one another jabs, upper cuts, blocks it all was happening one after another and down goes Hernandez again BUT HE GETS UP! He throw his dukes up letting the ref know he’s still with us and back and forth they go again. With 50 seconds remaining Bobby Taylor shows Angel Hernandez the canvas again! This time Hernandez is down a little longer and I thought when he put his hands behind his head while laying down he was throwing in the towel. HERNANDEZ GETS UP!! Both opponents are bleeding but still have the stamina to finish what they started. A right hand from Taylor then followed by a upper cut sends Hernandez to his knees but guess what, HERNANDEZ GETS BACK UP, AGAIN! With the sound of the bell round two begins. Hernandez is still keeping up with Taylor. Both opponents are throwing power hits and then Hernandez drops to his knees again! Is this is? Will Hernandez still have it within himself to get up or is this it? HERNANDEZ GETS BACK UP! Man, Hernandez is persistent! At 1min and 2 seconds Taylor strikes and Hernandez goes down and the ref calls it, BOBBY TAYLOR WINS! Hernandez might’ve slipped on that last one though because that ring was becoming a pool of blood, sweat, and straight resilience.
Ravon Baxter VS Junior Hicks
Ravon Baxter is another fighter out of Nashville. If you didn’t know he is also the bodyguard for music artist Jelly Roll. After seeing this match, if he was my body guard there would be no doubt in my mind I hired the right guy for the job. Also Bunny Xo Jelly Rolls wife was there attending the event. Round one and Hicks runs in on Baxter but he comes out unscathed and throws a left at Hicks. After going back and forth Baxter pops Hicks and he goes down after a left right strike to the face. it happened so quick! Hicks gets up comes to and throws his fists up and its go time baby! Hicks slips down to the canvas after Baxter was getting his combos in. Again and again hicks is dropping like dead weight, this looks like light work for Baxter I don’t even think he broke a sweat with this one! At 1 min and 33 seconds in round one the winner by TKO is RAVON BIG SHOT BAXTER!
The Main Event Soto VS Deleon
Tony Loco Soto gets his arm locked in by Deleon and they go blow for blow spinning all around the the blood stained canvas from previous victories. Will blood be shed in this round? The ref intervenes the opponents are separated and the fight continues. Talk about being locked in these two had a grip on each other like magnets! Round 2 pursues, Soto and Deleon are chest to chest the ref breaks them apart to remind them of no wrestling. Soto dives right into Deleon with continuous strikes. Both have great precision and the strikes become rapid. RIGHT LEFT RIGHT LEFT THEY AREN’T STOPPING! Soto ducks Deleon’s hook and its at this point in round two at 1min and 02 seconds Soto looks like he is slowing down but he keeps going. These are both high volume performing fighters. I mean just incredible how many hits these guys take and still keep going as if it was nothing! Soto gets pushed into the ropes he throws a left hand and they really listened to the ref because it was full blown fist to face contact and no one chest to chest arm interlocks. Round three a special delivery of body shots are being exchanged. With 40 seconds in the 3rd round you can start to see both are leading with exhaustion and then BAM both looked like they became one another’s speed bag! Then in the midst of the chaos Soto took a NASTY left hand to the abdomen and that’s what did him leaving him with a possible rib injury. It’s smart to know your limits and call it off to deter further injury. With that being said DELEON WINS THE MAIN EVENT BY TKO!! Wow that match was absolutely impressive and both fighters were entertaining to watch. Besides the fighting and techniques what I was really impressed by was their sportsmanship. I really enjoyed seeing the respect given my each fighter no matter who won.
A huge thanks to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, all the fighters that put their heart and soul into these matches and to SpinCyclePhoto for capturing these amazing photos.
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All photos are taken and provided by SpinCyclePhoto Instagram
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