Gamebred Bare Knuckle MMA 5 took place on September 8th, 2023 and the main event was a rematch between Junior Dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum. Both men have been out of the sport for a while, with Dos Santos spending a year on the sidelines until now and Werdum being absent from professional MMA for two years. The last time Werdum was seen in the cage was when he was the victim of a fake tap, and a loss to Renan Ferreira was overturned as a result. Both men are legends of the sport and have spent some time at the very top of the heavyweight division as UFC world champions at different points in time.
Naturally fans were excited when Werdum started teasing a return to the sport, but that excitement went through the roof when his opponent was confirmed. Almost 15 years ago at UFC 90, Werdum competed against Junior Dos Santos and lost via TKO in the very first round. He was going to get his chance at revenge against Dos Santos, although it would be under a slightly different format at Gamebred Bare Knuckle MMA 5. Both men had their moments of success throughout the fight as Werdum had the advantage on the ground and Dos Santos was clearly the better striker, but in the end Dos Santos managed to come away with the split decision win.
Gamebred Bare Knuckle MMA 5: Junior Dos Santos v Fabricio Werdum
Junior Dos Santos defeats Fabricio Werdum via Decision – Split (30-27, 30-27, 28-29)
Joel Bauman defeats Maki Pitolo via TKO – Strikes (Round 2, 2:36)
Joshua Weems defeats Irwin Rivera via Decision – Unanimous (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ago Huskic defeats Brandon Davis via Decision – Unanimous (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Anthony Njokuani defeats Brandon Jenkins via Decision – Unanimous (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Joey Ruquet defeats Joe Penafiel via TKO – Strikes (Round 2, 3:01)
Jhonasky Sojo defeats Tyler Hill via TKO – Ground and Pound (Round 1, 4:52)
Reggie Northrup defeats Cody Herbert via Decision – Unanimous (30-27, 30-26, 20-26)
Shahzaib Rindh defeats Carlos Guerra via TKO – Ground and Pound (Round 1, 2:41)
Juan Alvarez defeats Christopher Wingate via Submission – Heel Hook (Round1, 0:13)
The full event replay of Gamebred Bare Knuckle MMA 5, including the main event fight between Fabricio Werdum and Junior Dos Santos was uploaded to the promotion’s official YouTube channel:
