VIDEO | Joey Beltran and Tony Lopez hang out after their thrilling bareknuckle war

By Tom Taylor - June 3, 2018

Joey Beltran, Tony Lopez

Last night, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship promoted the first fully sanctioned bareknuckle boxing card to occur on American soil since 1889. As expected, this event provided a high quantity of blood and action.

Perhaps the most memorable feature of the card was an absolute war between Bellator and UFC veteran Joey Beltran, and heavyweight journeyman Tony Lopez, who have fought twice previously in MMA. The fight, which was undeniably reminiscent of Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar’s 2005 battle, captivated viewers worldwide and painted the canvas red.

In the end, Beltran won this bloody scrap via unanimous decision. Clearly, however, the two fighters have nothing but respect for one another.

Post-fight, the pair caught up in Beltran’s dressing room, where they hugged it out, posed for pictures, and discussed the fight. Interestingly, Beltran doesn’t seem sure he’s going to compete in bareknuckle boxing again — apparently, it hurts. Go figure!

Beltran and Lopez’s amazing post-fight exchange was capture by MMAFighting. See it in the video at the top of this post!

Did you witness Joey Beltran and Tony Lopez’s frenetic, five-round war? What did you think of the fight? Will you be tuning in for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s next event?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/3/2018.


Topics:

Joey Beltran