Former UFC heavyweight suffers sickening 12-second knockout at Conor McGregor’s latest bare-knuckle boxing event

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship [BKFC] continues to produce ridiculously fast knockouts.

The fledgling combat sports promotion, co-owned by UFC superstar Conor McGregor, returned Saturday night with BKFC Fight Night Los Angeles, which took place at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California.

Anthony Garrett headlined the card after shocking everyone with a 16-second knockout win over John Orr in his promotional debut at BKFC Fight Night Kansas City in August.

Amazingly, he managed to finish his last opponent four seconds faster and set a new KO record.

Photo credit: BKFC

Lavar Johnson slept through first blow in BKFC debut

Garrett's opponent was none other than MMA heavyweight Lavar Johnson.

The 47-year-old enjoyed stints in the UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator before finishing his career with an 18-10 record in 2014.

Johnson picked up high-profile UFC wins over Pat Barry and Joey Beltran and shared the Octagon with Stefan Struve and Brendan Schaub during his four-fight stint in MMA's premier promotion.

Ten years after his MMA retirement, Johnson has launched a bare-knuckle boxing career that was going well until he made his BKFC debut this weekend.

The hard-fought American had scored back-to-back bare-knuckle KO victories before stepping into the ring with Garrett.

Johnson charged forward with a four-punch combination as soon as the first bell rang. Unfortunately for him, none of them landed and he ended up with a vicious counter shot.

Garrett's right hook dropped him to the ground within the first five seconds.

Johnson's eyes were open, but he appeared stiff and was unable to get up.

Referee Dan Miragliotta officially waved off the fight after just 12 seconds, meaning Garrett had managed to break the BKFC fastest knockout record he set earlier this year.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor II in BKFC?

Conor McGregor called himself a 'player-manager' as he teased a possible move to bare-knuckle boxing after acquiring a stake in BFKC.

Since then, fans have been discussing potential opponents for the Irishman's debut in the sport, which won't take place until he completes the final two fights of his current UFC deal.

Still, McGregor's BKFC business partner Dave Feldman has been thinking about promoting a potential rematch that would break the internet.

Feldman wants to convince Floyd Mayweather, who defeated McGregor in his boxing debut in 2017, to take off the gloves for a money-spinning second scrap under the BKFC banner.

“I would love to see Floyd Mayweather bare-knuckle against Conor McGregor,” Feldman told Bloody Elbow in October. “I think it's a completely different fight, with the clinch you can do and getting hit with the knuckles.

“We just think it's a different world. So it's a different sport, it's different types of pain. It's not necessarily that you get hit and you get flashes and concussions, but you get hit on the cheekbone and you go, 'Oh man, that hurt.'

“So it really just depends on who is able to withstand that kind of thing.”

Related posts