Tag: Dillon Cleckler

Video: Roy Nelson crushes Dillon Cleckler with vintage KO sequence for Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA

At Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA, Roy Nelson folded opponent Dillon Cleckler after walking through a series of massive punches.

[autotag]Roy Nelson[/autotag] hasn’t competed much in recent years, but it doesn’t mean he’s done quite yet.

In what he deemed a bucket list item, Nelson returned to competition without gloves Friday at Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA in Sunrise, Fla. In vintage “Big Country” fashion, Nelson walked through massive punches from bulky opponent [autotag]Dillon Cleckler[/autotag] before he scored a knockout at 3:24 of Round 1.

Nelson, 46, hadn’t competed since his final Bellator fight in August 2020. The victory was his first combat sports win since September 2017.

After the fight, Nelson indicated he will continue to compete as long as the opportunities excite him. Masvidal brought Alex Nicholson in the cage after the fight to size up with Nelson and also mentioned Junior Dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum as potential next opponents.

Check out the full Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA results here.

Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA full event video, results: Roy Nelson vs. Dillon Cleckler

Check out the live stream and results for Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA.

SUNRISE, Fla. – Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA took place Friday at FLA Live Arena.

In the main event of the card, former UFC and Bellator heavyweight [autotag]Roy Nelson[/autotag] took on BKFC veteran [autotag]Dillon Cleckler[/autotag].

In the co-main event, 2019 PFL champion [autotag]Emiliano Sordi[/autotag] battled former UFC fighter Markus Perez in a light heavyweight matchup. The card also featured several other MMA notables including [autotag]Irwin Rivera[/autotag], [autotag]Sean Soriano[/autotag], [autotag]Charles Bennett[/autotag], and [autotag]Anthony Njokuani[/autotag].

You can watch the full event replay in the video above and the results below:

Dillon Cleckler says Roy Nelson bareknuckle MMA fight will be highlight of his career

Dillon Cleckler is a big man who has put away some other big men, but if he does it again Friday it will be his biggest win yet.

[autotag]Dillon Cleckler[/autotag] is a big man who has put away some other big men, but if he does it again Friday it will be his biggest win yet.

Cleckler, a little more than a month removed from a first-round knockout in his debut for Gamebred Boxing, will return to the bareknuckle side of things with a bareknuckle MMA fight under Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred banner.

The 41-year-old Cleckler will take on former UFC and Bellator heavyweight Roy Nelson, the Season 10 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” on Friday at Gamebred Fighting Championship 4 in Sunrise, Fla.

Cleckler said the opportunity to fight Nelson on short notice was too good to pass up on.

“(It’s a) huge name,” Cleckler told MMA Junkie. “Before I even got into MMA, I was a fan of Roy’s. I love watching him fight – love watching him knock people out. Yeah, I was a huge fan of his.”

Cleckler said Nelson will have to get used to getting punched without gloves – something that wasn’t an issue when he was in MMA. Cleckler has 10 MMA fights on his resume, but also is 3-1 in bareknuckle boxing under the BKFC banner.

Cleckler’s most recent two BKFC wins in 2021 came in 24 seconds and 19 seconds – so it’s not like he knows a lot about getting hit without gloves, himself, because it’s hard to get hit a lot when putting opponents away that quickly.

“It’s not something you can really prepare for – to get hit without gloves,” Cleckler said. “You can’t really do nothing about that. It’s going to feel different. I couldn’t really offer any advice about how to prepare for that in any different way than just, you know, see how it feels.”

But the one thing Cleckler said he won’t be uncertain about is the quality of opponent he has in front of him, given Nelson’s extensive resume.

“This is probably the top of my career, for sure: huge name, huge platform. I’m excited about it.”

Gamebred Boxing 4 fighter pay: Anthony Pettis vs. Roy Jones Jr. card reaches almost $3 million combined

See the disclosed payouts for Anthony Pettis, Roy Jones. Jr., Vitor Belfort, Jose Aldo, and more, per the state of Wisconsin.

Gamebred Boxing 4 took place Saturday at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisc., where six fighters took home six-figure paydays as a result of their bouts.

Thursday, MMA Junkie acquired a list of the disclosed payouts from the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, which oversees the state’s athletic commission and regulation of combat sports events.

The amounts reflect the disclosed payouts only and do not include any off-contract bonuses, sponsor payments, or discretionary bonuses.

Of the 26 fighters to compete on the card, 20 were on flat purse contracts, while the remaining six fighters were on show-win deals. Headliners [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] and [autotag]Roy Jones Jr.[/autotag] took home the largest purses of the bunch, as they combined for $1,350,000.

The total payout for all fighters on the card was $2,827,700.

Scroll below to see what the 26 fighters on Gamebred Boxing 4 were paid – disclosed amounts only.

‘Devastated’ Dillon Cleckler issues heartfelt message after death of BKFC 20 opponent Justin Thornton

Following the death Justin Thornton, Dillon Cleckler reacted to losing not only a two-time opponent but a friend, too.

[autotag]Dillon Cleckler[/autotag] considered [autotag]Justin Thornton[/autotag] not only an opponent but a friend.

The two Mississippi-based fighters competed against each other twice – once in MMA in 2013 and once in bare-knuckle boxing in this past August. Cleckler won by first-round knockout on both occasions, but the second finish resulted in severe injury and ultimately Thornton’s death.

Cleckler caught him with a right hand, and Thornton fell to the canvas face first just 18 seconds into the fight. Thornton was taken out of the ring on a stretcher and reportedly had been hospitalized since the fight. According to a Sept. 23 post on his personal Facebook page, Thornton was paralyzed and placed on a ventilator with a tracheotomy and IV drip.

Thornton, 38, died Monday. His death “devastated” Cleckler, who opened up about the situation in a lengthy Facebook post Tuesday and wrote that pneumonia was the cause of death.

“As a fighter nothing prepares you for the news I received this morning on my way to training,” Cleckler wrote. “Some of you may not of heard yet but my last opponent Justin Thornton passed away last night due to pneumonia. I can’t help but feel absolutely devastated about this because I’ve known Justin for years. Not many people know this but we fought 8 years ago and he told me right away he wanted the rematch. I know that when he got the phone call to finally get that rematch on a bigger stage he saw a huge opportunity and took it. Justin is a warrior. It’s in his blood to fight. He loved it. He fought anyone, anytime and anywhere and when I didn’t have an opponent, he still jumped at the opportunity to get in there with me again. Any man or woman who steps in the ring or the cage is special, [sic] they take a risk (that) 99.99% of the world would never take and sometimes I still don’t know why we do it but Justin was a fighter his entire life and deserves nothing but respect!! My thoughts and prayers are with Justin Thornton and his family at this time. RIP warrior.”

Belinda Brashier, a woman who identified herself as Thornton’s older sister, commented on Cleckler’s post with a brief statement and asked people to respect the Thornton family’s privacy during this time.

“Yes he loved (fighting) – we wish he had give up a long time ago but he died doing what he loved,” Brashier wrote. “He knew what could happen.”

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