Phil Baroni forced out of BKFC 12 main event, Thiago Alves receives new opponent

Julian Lane has stepped in to fight Thiago Alves in the main event of BKFC 12 after veteran Phil Baroni dropped out.

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship continues to serve as the leading promotion for bare knuckle combat, and at their upcoming September 11th show, they’re hoping to really cement their return with an event that blows fans away.

Unfortunately for those who were hoping to see the often controversial Baroni compete, the main event bout involving Thiago Alves will now see him go up against former viral sensation Julian Lane.

Julian Lane has replaced Phil Baroni and will now face Thiago Alves in the main event for BKFC 12! pic.twitter.com/zcCpF4hjrf

— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) September 3, 2020

BKFC’s David Feldman has had to face a whole lot of challenges throughout the course of the pandemic, and even before fights came back, he wanted to give people as much content as he possibly could.

“We’re trying to figure out different ways of creating content right now,” he told BJPENN.com of BKFC’s operations. “Getting in contact with the fighters, interviewing the fighters. I’m going to get a little more involved right now myself, getting out there a little bit and just doing everything that we can do to keep the fans engaged.

“That’s the big thing right now,” Feldman continued. “Everybody is looking for something to do and everybody’s looking for something to take their mind off of this terrible situation. We want to help do that and give them some more content. Whatever we can do to stay engaged with the fans so they don’t forget about bare knuckle, and at the same time give them something to do while they’re going through these times.”

In terms of the success their brand has enjoyed so far, Feldman had the following to say.

“We’re definitely satisfied as far as the popularity goes and how much we got out there,” Feldman said, looking back on BKFC’s first two years. “We essentially created a brand new combat sport and our company name is pretty much as synonymous with the sport as UFC is with MMA right now.

“We’re extremely satisfied with how far this went in the initial period of time and how much notoriety that we gained so far,” he added. “It’s great and I take my hat off to the fighters for fighting the way they fought to get us to where we are right now.”

How do you think Thiago Alves will perform in his BKFC debut?