Legal bare-knuckle fighting makes bloody debut

Adams pounds Linderman’s face into a bloody mess

CHEYENNE, Wyoming, June 3, (AP): The first ever state-sanctioned bareknuckle boxing match got a bloody ending Saturday night — and a big response from a raucous crowd.

Arnold Adams, a 32-year-old MMA heavyweight, pounded ex-UFC fighter D.J. Linderman’s face into a bloody mess in front of 2,000 rowdy fans at a hockey rink that usually hosts birthday parties and skating lessons in Wyoming’s capital. Tens of thousands more tuned in for the pay-per-view event, which featured 10 bouts, including four heavyweight fights in a tournament format.

Fans were lined up outside the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center more than an hour before the first major bare-knuckle event in the US since 1889. Forrest Peters, from Cheyenne, was among those in attendance. He came to cheer Estevan Payan — who served in the same Army unit as Peters — and to witness history.

Payan, of Tempe, Arizona, didn’t disappoint, flooring Omar Avelar at 1:57 of the opening round of a 145-pound match.

The quickest knockout occurred when Sam Shewmaker used one punch, an overhand right, to send Eric Prindle to the canvas 18 seconds into their heavyweight bout.

Shewmaker has been an amateur boxer for years, and when he heard about the Wyoming event, he tried out and earned a chance to compete.

Bec Rawlings, a 29-year-old from Brisbane, Australia, won the only bout of the night featuring women, stopping Alma Garcia with a TKO in the second round. DJ Linderman (right), fights Arnold Adams in the heavyweight quarter-final during the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship on June 2,

in Cheyenne, Wyo. (AP)