BKFC 82’s Must-See Fights Saturday Night in New Jersey

All told, after some shuffling to the bout order earlier Wednesday, if there are no further adjustments to the show, the final version of the event features an 11-bout card. Royalty will be crowned on Saturday night in Newark, as well.

BKFC 82 Main Event: BKFC King of Violence Championship: Mike Perry vs. Jeremy Stephens

At the top of the bill this weekend, the middleweights do battle in the ring for the BKFC King of Violence Championship. “Platinum” Mike Perry (5-0 bare-knuckle) makes the walk for the first time in more than a year against “Lil’ Heathen” Jeremy Stephens (3-0 bare-knuckle.) All fights Saturday night are five rounds at two minutes per round.

Perry enters this main event having yet to lose under bare-knuckle rules. Back on July 20 of last year, he competed in traditional boxing under Jake Paul’s MVP promotional banner.

That evening, Perry was knocked out in the sixth round of a scheduled eight against the aforementioned Jake Paul in Tampa. Given that he’s had north of 14 months away from competition in combat sports, the question of ring rust has popped up again.

Will a return to the friendlier confines of bare-knuckle boxing spell the sixth straight victory for the Perry camp under these rules as he looks to defend the King of Violence Championship in BKFC 82?

Across the way, Jeremy Stephens, who’s had 52 MMA fights throughout his career, returns to BKFC this weekend having gone 3-2 in his last five fights across all competitions. On May 3, he dropped a unanimous decision to Mason Jones (17-2, 1 NC MMA, 3-2, 1 NC UFC) in Des Moines, IA.

As far as BKFC goes, this is his first appearance in the promotion since KnuckleMania V in January. That evening, he scored a third-round TKO (corner’s stoppage) after Eddie Alvarez (1-2 bare-knuckle) could not continue in the contest. Is another win in Stephens’ future?

BKFC 82 Co-Main Event: Inaugural BKFC Queen of Violence Championship: [C-FLW] Christine Ferea vs. [C-FW] Jessica Borga

In the co-main attraction, there’s going to be a superfight for the Inaugural BKFC Queen of Violence Championship at BKFC 82 in the women’s bantamweight division. Current BKFC Women’s Flyweight Champion Christine Ferea (10-1 bare-knuckle) squares off against BKFC Women’s Featherweight Champion Jessica Borga (3-0 bare-knuckle.)

Ferea last fought right before Christmas on Dec. 21 of last year. That winter’s night in Hollywood, FL, she bested Christine Vicens by fourth-round TKO after the latter sustained a cut, forcing the fight doctor to intervene. She’s got a 5-0 record in her last five bare-knuckle bouts dating back to the summer of 2022.

BKFC 82 marks her first appearance in the promotion in 2025 after appearing twice over the last third of the year in 2024. It’s also her seventh championship fight in a row, but when the stakes are at their highest, Christine Ferea delivers.

Meanwhile, Jessica Borga has yet to lose in bare-knuckle boxing. All three of her BKFC wins have been finished before the bell tolled to end the opening round of a scheduled five.

On April 5, she trekked to Dubai and stopped Hannah Rankin (1-1 bare-knuckle) in just 32 seconds. A good rule of thumb for a Jessica Borga fight: Don’t look away from the screen when she’s in the ring because the fight may be over before you get some pizza on your plate.

BKFC 82 Featured Fight: Timmy Mason vs. Jimmie Rivera

The featured contest of BKFC 82 has undergone a change as of late Wednesday afternoon. During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Feldman announced that a planned fight involving Franke Edgar could be postponed due to medical issues.

Subsequent to the interview, those close to the situation informed NJ.com  that Edgar would no longer be competing. Feldman is hopeful that Edgar can make his BKFC debut at a later date.

In Edgar’s stead, Timmy Mason (2-2 bare-knuckle) will now be stepping in on 72 hours’ notice to meet Jimmie Rivera (2-2-1 bare-knuckle) in this featured contest at featherweight. Timmy Mason fought less than two months ago in Sturgis, SD, scoring a first-round knockout victory over AJ Craig (2-2 bare-knuckle.)

Across all competitions, he’s posted a 3-2 record over his last five matches. He’ll only have a few days to prepare for Jimmie Rivera ahead of BKFC 82, so what kind of a gameplan is he able to come up with on extremely short notice?

In the other corner, Jimmie Rivera has gone 2-2-1 in the five fights he’s had since joining BKFC in June of 2022. Almost a year ago, he was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Kai Stewart (8-0 bare-knuckle) in Montana.

The fact that Jimmie Rivera hasn’t fought in close to 11 months has only been compounded further by the late change in adversary. Will the change in opponent be helpful or a hindrance for “El Terror?”

Final Thoughts

Which fight or fights are you looking forward to during BKFC 82?