American social media star Bryce Hall 23, made his victorious bare-knuckle boxing debut Friday night in the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico facing off against Gee Perez in the co-main event of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, BKFC 48. Former UFC flyweight John Dodson also fought JR Ridge for the inaugural flyweight gold.
Hall walked out next to his trainer Lorenzo Hunt, BKFC’s cruiserweight and light heavyweight champion, to Tourner Dans Le Vide, a song made popular by internet personality Andrew Tate. The 23-year-old started off the first round with a bang, knocking down Perez in mere seconds with a pair of right hands to the jaw.
By the end of the first round, Perez complained of pain on his left elbow, but the doctor allowed him to go back to the second round.
Perez, who was a 3-0 undefeated champion in the sport with a trio of knockouts, struggled to keep up with Hall's unrelenting jabs in the second round. He still managed to put the 23-year-old in danger using his right arm.
However, at the end of the second round, Perez could not continue and Hall was declared winner by technical knockout.
Friday's victory instantly makes Hall who has over 30 million followers on social media, one of the most popular athletes under the BKFC banner. The 23-year-old had lost via third-round stoppage in his sole match in traditional boxing against Austin McBroom in 2021.
In post-fight remarks Friday, Hall referenced his comments in the 2021 fight which has since turned into a hilarious meme. "I'm a boxer, I am a fighter. I've always claimed to be a fucking fighter," he said to cheers from the crowd.
In another co-main event match, Dodson cornered Ridge and landed a series of violent punches to win the first BKFC flyweight championship via first-round TKO. He has now won six straight fights since 2022 with a trio of bare-knuckle boxing wins and three victories in MMA, collecting a win inside the RIZIN ring as recently as May 2023. Ridge dropped to 3-2 inside the BKFC ring.
Earlier in the night, Dodson’s brother Eric Dodson suffered his first loss in three BKFC appearances, after suffering two early round knockdowns in face off against Robert Armas.
WATCH full fight: Bryce Hall vs Gee Perez