BKFC 89 Palm Desert-Herring vs Larrimore Fight Results: Herring Becomes New BKFC Champ

PALM DESERT, California- Jamel Herring did what he has done for years, boxing his way to a unanimous decision victory (50-45 x3) in the main event of BKFC 89 (Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship), becoming the new BKFC bantamweight champion.

Although the crowd was conditioned throughout the night for an all-out, reckless show of fighting for their entertainment, Herring (2-0) used good movement, boxing skills and ring awareness to easily defeat Michael Larrimore (3-2). The crowd responded with boos, but Herring secured the victory without ever being in danger.

In the opening round, Herring took a patient approach, using his right jab to gauge his distance. He kept changing the eye level of Larrimore by shooting the jab to the body and head. Larrimore did land a quick right hand to Herring’s head, but he was able to roll with it.

The crowd began to grow restless in the second round as Herring was moving well and keeping his distance with the jab, but it wasn’t the style the fans wanted to see. Larrimore was having trouble landing anything significant as Herring used good footwork to move away from Larrimore’s power shots. Larrimore complained about his left eye, as if a finger had hit it. His eye quickly began to swell up.

Herring scored a quick knockdown in the third with a straight left, but Larrimore got up quickly after. Although Larrimore attempted to get some offense going, his left eye was giving him issues and was almost closed by the end of the fight. Herring is now a world champion in BKFC and joins Austin Trout as the only other fighter to do it.

Jamel Herring vs. Michael Larrimore Undercard Result

In the co-main, light heavyweight Cody Vidal (4-1-1) scored two knockdowns en route to a first-round TKO victory over Jomi Escoboza (10-3). Vidal was in complete control from the start, and the more experienced Escoboza had no chance after being hit by the first right hand of the fight.

Heavyweight Levi Costa (3-3) destroyed Chase Gormley (1-2) via first-round TKO. Costa landed a hard right hand that sent Gormley almost through the ring ropes. After Gormley got up and beat the count, Costa landed a left uppercut, then a straight left hand, sending him down for the second time. Gormley tried to get up, but the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.

Bantamweight Anthony Sanchez (2-3) scored the upset unanimous decision over the home crowd favorite David Diaz (3-2-1). The judges saw this one 48-44, 49-43, and 50-42 for Sanchez, who dominated from the start.

After a ringwalk filled with dancing, Diaz was ready to fight as he got the crowd hyped, but in the first round, he was clipped twice by Sanchez’s overhand right, suffering two knockdowns. A bad cut opened up over Diaz’s left eye from Sanchez’s right hands. Early in the second round, Diaz went down again from a Sanchez right hand but was able to beat the count. Diaz rallied back late in the round but was a bloody mess by that point. The two fighters went back and forth for the rest of the fight as the crowd was on their feet at the end of their battle.

Although Diaz lost, he proposed to his girlfriend in the ring, and she said ‘yes.’

Heavyweight Eric Soto (1-0, 1 KO) made a huge splash in his BKFC debut, scoring a second-round TKO over Pernell Stevens (0-1). Although Soto went down in the first round, he came back and knocked down Stevens twice in the second, once with a left hook and then again with a right hook. After the second knockdown, Stevens decided he had enough, prompting the referee to waive off the fight.

Welterweight Evgenii Kurdanov (6-3) scored a second-round TKO over Eric Lopez (3-5). In the first round, Kurdanov landed an overhand right to Lopez’s ear, sending him down for the fight’s first knockdown. When Lopez got up, Kurdanov rushed him and landed a grazing overhand right, sending Lopez down again. Only seconds into the second round, Kurdanov landed a series of flurries that forced the referee to wave off the fight as Lopez appeared unable to continue.

Welterweight Ryan Petersen (3-2) scored a unanimous decision (49-45, 48-46, and 49-45) over Daniel Keepers (0-1) to open BKFC 89, live on DAZN. Both men exchanged left hooks early, using a ton of feints. Petersen landed a left hook as Keepers came in, scoring a knockdown. Keepers survived the first round. Keepers rallied back, but Petersen kept the pressure with his left hooks and body attack. With a gash on the right side of his forehead, Petersen finished the final round strong to secure the decision victory.

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is a 2x award-winning writer, International Boxing Hall of Fame voter, founder and publisher of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms, including online, network TV, and promotional companies. He is an alumnus of an American Public University and a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, and contributed to The Ring Magazine, FanSidedMMA, and ProBoxTV.

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