Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship to Be 1st Event of Its Kind in USA Since 1889

Get ready, fight fans. An old style of combat is on the way back.

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship will put on an event Saturday, June 2, per Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com:

It marks the first time since 1889 that the United States will host sanctioned bare-knuckle fights, according to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship President David Feldman.

The event will be held in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and will feature current professional boxers and former UFC and Bellator fighters, per Feldman. Bare Knuckle heavyweight champion Bobby Gunn, former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez and kickboxer Maurice Jackson are among the names on the card.

"It was such a struggle to get this going because nobody really knows what it is because they haven't seen it in 130 years," Feldman said, per Anna Logan of KGWN in Cheyenne. "But now they are going to know what it is—it's a great sport and a great night of entertainment and some great athletes, and people will have a lot of fun."

Fighters in both boxing and the UFC wear different forms of gloves. Feldman views gloves as protection for hands, not heads, and he says bare-knuckle fighting carries less risk for head injuries.

"It's not just a great idea; it's safer for the fighters," Feldman said, per Raimondi. "One of those athletic commissions has to believe in the facts."

Tickets will start at $50 with pay-per-view available for $29.99.