prvi službeno sankcionirani bare knuckle event/borba u SAD-u od 1889. održan je prije par dana u Wyomingu. borci uglavnom MMA-ovci, među njima i bivši IBA cruiserweight svjetski prvak. promocija se zove Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships .
The International Boxing Hall of Fame said the last significant bare-knuckle bout was July 8, 1889, when John L. Sullivan went 75 rounds to beat Jake Kilrain.
Fighting was forced underground until 2011, when the Yavapai Nation sanctioned a match that Gunn won over Richard Stewart at the tribe's reservation in Arizona. The bout drew more than a million viewers, and the promoter of that event and the Wyoming one, David Feldman, realized there was a hungry market for bare-knuckle fights within the combat sports fanbase. It took him another seven years to find a state willing to sanction the next event.
