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Combat sports: Trout to defend his BKFC title in Spain on Oct. 12
Las Cruces’ Austin Trout, left, battles Albuquerque’s Diego Sanchez during a BKFC (bare-knuckle) fight at Tingley Coliseum on Aug. 27, 2023. Trout, who defeated Sanchez by fourth-round TKO, is scheduled to defend his BKFC welterweight title against Carlos Trinidad-Snake on Friday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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Las Cruces boxer/bare-knuckle fighter Austin Trout, a veteran of foreign travel, will add another stamp to his passport when he goes to Marbella, Spain, to defend his BKFC (bare-knuckle) welterweight title on Oct. 12.
The BKFC made the announcement on Thursday.
Trout (2-0 with one KO in BKFC, 37-5-1 with 18 KOs as a pro boxer) is matched against England’s Rico Franco (3-0 BKFC, 6-4 MMA) on a card headlined by a fight for the vacant BKFC lightweight title between Argentina’s Franco Tenaglia (3-0 BKFC) and Tony Soto (6-0 BKFC) of Hickory, N.C.
As a boxer, Trout has fought twice in Germany, once in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and several times in Mexico. He won his WBA world junior middleweight title in Guadalajara with a victory by unanimous decision over Rigoberto Alvarez in 2011.
Trout made his bare-knuckle debut at Tingley Coliseum on Aug. 27, 2023, with a victory by fourth-round TKO (doctor stoppage) over Albuquerque MMA legend Diego Sanchez. He won the BKFC welterweight belt with a victory by unanimous decision over former champion Luis Palomino on Feb. 2 in Hollywood, Florida.
He’ll be at a disadvantage in terms of bare-knuckle experience against Franco, who has a 6-2 record while fighting on a European bare-knuckle circuit.
At a news conference on Thursday in Marbella, a resort city on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, former UFC champion Conor McGregor, arguably the most popular figure in all of combat sports, made his debut as a BKFC co-owner with company founder David Feldman.
McGregor said he likely will compete under the BKFC banner at some point.
The Oct. 12 headliners, Tenaglia and Soto, attended the news conference. Trout, who lives and trains in Houston, and Franco did not attend.
The card is scheduled to be staged at Marbella Arena, an outdoor facility where bullfighting has been the main attraction in the past.
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The BKFC twice has made tentative plans to stage a card in the Pan American Center with Trout in the main event. Neither came to fruition.
