Inside the brutal world of bare-knuckle boxing where gloves are BANNED

The real-life Fight Club: Inside the brutal – and bloody – world of bare-knuckle boxing where gloves are BANNED

• Gory images show participants at BKFC 40, run by Bare Knuckle Boxing, in Leeds
• Saturday night’s event saw fighters suffer gruesome cuts, bruises and injuries
• WARNING – CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT SOME MIGHT FIND DISTRESSING

Bloody images show the brutal reality for competitors taking part in Britain’s real-life Fight Club.

Fighters were left with horrific facial wounds including deep cuts, swollen eyelids and nasty bruising after taking part in BKFC 40 on Saturday, April 22.

The event was held by Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship at Planet Ice in Leeds and saw competitors put their bodies on the line in a series of gory bouts.

The sport differs from regular boxing in that  those taking part are not allowed to wear gloves or put any wrapping on their knuckles.

Those in attendance saw fighters left bloody, battered and bruised, with many literally shedding sweat and blood onto the canvas of the ring.

A bloodied David Oscar (right) throws a punch at Lee Browne (left) at BKFC in Leeds

Heavily tattooed fighter David Oscar dodges a punch from Lee Browne in their bare knuckle fight

Blood flows from the nose of bareknuckle boxer Franco Tenaglia during a bout with Luke Nevin

The event itself saw eight fights on the main card and three preliminary bouts, all of which except one ended in technical knockouts (TKO).

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In the main event Danny Christie beat previously undefeated champion Anthony Jones via TKO in the fourth round to win the BKFC UK Light-Heavyweight Title.

Despite being left with painful looking wounds and blood pouring from gashes on his face and nose, Franco Tenaglia beat Luke Nevin via TKO in round 4.

Conor Cooke beat Robbie Kennedy by TKO in the same round, while Rico Franco took two rounds to defeat Axel Birbes by the same method.

Earlier in the night Tom Scott beat damian Gorski by TKO in the fourth round, while Jonny Graham defeated Will Cairns and Morgan Starkey submitted Marius Rado in the first round of their fights.

In the only fight to go the distance on the night, David Oscar defeated Lee Browne via unanimous decision from the judges scorecards.

BKFC claims to be the world’s fastest growing combat sports promotion and the first allowed to hold sanctioned bare knuckle fights.

Those taking part are all professional boxers, mixed martial artists, kick boxers or practitioners of Muay Thai – while referees and judges have previous experience of combat sports.

The organisation claims its rules make it the ‘truest form’ of bare knuckle fighting and says it wants to create ‘the safest, most exciting, and highest-level bare-knuckle fighting’ events in the world.

Danny Christie lands a right hook on Anthony Jones in their BKFC UK Light-Heavyweight title match

A blood-soaked Danny Christie stands in the corner of the ring during his title-winning fight

Danny Christie, seen here with blood covering his face and knuckles, eyes up his opponent during a fight

Franco Tenaglia celebrates with his arms outstretched and tongue out after his victory over Luke Nevin

Bare knuckle boxer Luke Nevin kisses opponent Franco Tenaglia after losing

Franco Tenagli rests his head against his opponents shoulder as they clinch in their bout in Leeds

Franco Tenaglia gasps for breath while leaning against Luke Nevin in their main card fight at BKFC 40

Danny Christie kneels on the ground and prays after knocking out Anthony Jones at BKFC 40

Franco Tenaglia (right) raises his right fist as blood and saliva pours from his mouth during his fight against Luke Nevin

Anthony Jones flinches as he is punched in the face by Danny Christie during his unsuccessful title defence

Conor Cooke celebrates by licking his fist after his victory over Robbie Kennedy by TKO in round four

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While the brutality on display in Saturday night’s event may seem extreme, there are unofficial bare knuckle fights that take it to another level. 

These unsanctioned events, which take place in makeshift rings on the streets, have a ‘no rules’ policy that allows opponents to headbutt, kick, stamp, eye gouge and even bite each other.

The King of the Streets fight club allows fighters to use any means necessary to win the bout. 

One British competitor told MailOnline he recalled biting the ear of one rival clean off, before begging his opponent to stop when he got his eye gouged.

Bachir ‘Bash’ Fakhouri, from Hastings, East Sussex, told MailOnline: ‘The guy’s ear I bit off – and I bit the whole thing off – he eye gouged me and put his finger into my eye. I screamed for him to stop.’ 

The fighter, 42, sent footage to MailOnline showing his opponent screaming in pain while Bash pinned him against the wall and tore away at his ear.

A photograph shows the bloodied flap of skin lying on the concrete.

‘Ears get bitten off in fights,’ said Bash.

‘He was right on top of me, and I told him, ”you’ve got to stop you’ve got to stop – I’m going to lose my eye”.

‘They call me a one-arm army. I just turn up anywhere, do what I have to do, get my money.’

Bash would not reveal how much he was paid for this particular fight, but King of the Streets provides ‘extra’ for biting and more if the competitor eats parts of their rival.

One fighter revealed he was paid £2,000 for a King of the Streets fight – a far cry from the £20million bagged by boxer Tyson Fury per fight and at much higher risk of death.

Bash also kept the location of the brawl concealed, which took place last year, but a video of the fight posted by King of the Streets is titled ‘Welcome to the UK’.

Bash has done nine bare-knuckle matches after he started fighting as a child, when he learned Taekwondo.

‘I’ve fought from a young age really, all my life,’ he said.

He was also hesitant to discuss his family, but said: ‘I’ve got a lovely family – a beautiful family.’

Asked how the fight club gets away with organising such barbaric brawls, the fighter said: ‘It’s on private land and it’s an agreement between two men.

‘It’s not a sport. I’d like to say it is but it ain’t.

A lot of the no rules fighters are older people. You don’t really find youngsters in no rules.

‘Older men tend to be more streetwise.’

He added: ‘They tend to be more men, I don’t mean that rudely, but because of the injuries that go with it.’

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