Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) returned to Albuquerque, NM with KnuckleMania3 at the Tingley Coliseum.

Fighting in the welterweight division in a cross-state rivalry fight, former junior middleweight world champion Austin ‘No Doubt’ Trout of Las Cruces, NM made bare knuckle debut in stopping UFC veteran Diego Sanchez of Albuquerque, NM in the fourth round.

The more elusive Trout was able to stick with his game plan, fighting on the outside throughout the fight and hitting without getting hit.

Although the more aggressive Sanchez had his moments of success in each round he was unable to mount a consistent attack.

Trout dropped a bloody Sanchez with a stinging left hand in the fourth round and the fight was stopped by the ringside physician due to multiple cuts suffered by the popular Sanchez. The time of the stoppage was 1:44.

As a boxer, Trout has won his last five bouts, with a record of 36-5-1 and 18 knockouts. The bagged his last boxing win in December.

Making his bare knuckle heavyweight debut, towering former NFL All-Pro Defensive Lineman Greg Hardy, (0-1) was stopped in the second round by Josh Watson, (2-1).

Watson scored a knockdown of Hardy in the opening stanza as the referee ruled that the ropes kept him up. Following some two-way action for most of the second round, Watson knocked Hardy down with a battering left hand earning the victory at 0:19 of the stanza.

Hardy was coming off an upset four round decision win over heavyweight prospect Hasim Rahman Jr, in a boxing match that was held last November. Hardy has a 2-0 record in the squared circle.