Austin Trout and Luis Palomino will run it back in the world of bare knuckle boxing in the headliner of BKFC 85 with the two co-main event fighters weighing in on that big bout. Trout and Palomino first threw down at BKFC 57 in February 2024 with the former defeating the latter on points.
‘No Doubt’ Trout captured the welterweight strap from Palomino with their rematch being part of the semi finals of a tournament designed to crown a new BKFC champ at lightweight since the 155 pound belt is presently vacant.
Speaking of vacant belts, the aforementioned co-main event fight at BKFC 85 is for the vacant bantamweight belt as former BKFC title challenger Ryan Reber clashes with the undefeated Justin Ibarrola.
Offering up his viewpoint of how Trout vs. Palomino 2 plays out, Ryan Reber said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“It’s a different weight, man. So, we’ll just have to see. I think the first one was very close. I think this one’s going to be very close as well and somebody’s gonna slide it out like they did last time, man. Maybe Palomino takes it this time and then they have a trilogy. I don’t know. But then it’s in a tournament, so then they’re going to have to wait on that. And that’s the other thing about a bare knuckle tournament.”
“Like, bro, you go out there and you have a complete war and you f***ing break your hand or you can’t fight for another four months, then where does that leave the guy that’s next in line? He’s got to wait four more months for you to be, you know what I mean?”
“So, the tournament s**t is kind of weird, especially when it comes to bare knuckle, but you know, I get it. I get it. I just didn’t get it for our weight class and it didn’t make sense. So, I told them no, you know what I mean? Like, I’m not doing that. So, you know, it is what it is [laughs].”
BKFC 85’s Justin Ibarrola sees similarities in his game compared to trout’s and palomino’s
Turning to the other side of the co-main event, when breaking down who he thinks will advance to the finals to fight Franco Tenaglia for the BKFC lightweight belt between Austin Trout and Luis Palomino, Justin Ibarrola stated [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“I am a big fan of both of them. Honestly, I like how Palomino fights. I like to compare me and Palomino with our styles a little bit. They’re different, but I like how he throws punches. I like how he approaches the fight. Then you’ve got Trout who’s just a smart boxer, man. Like, he’s been in the ring with big guys. and he knows how to move and he’s swift and he’s hard to catch.”
“Like he’s using the same approach I’m using, hit and don’t get hit move around the f***ing ring and it’s working. I think me and him are two of the guys who are using that approach out of everybody in the company and as you can see, it’s what works. No matter how hard we get hit, no matter who drops us, no matter who cuts our faces or bruises us up, our strategy works and it’s continuing to work.”