Philadelphia fighters aim to redefine ‘Brotherly Love’ at KnuckleMania 5

Philadelphia has always been a gritty city. Between their love of sports, cheesesteaks, and WAWA, the city’s history is intertwined with love, passion, and even combat sports. You can track it back to the 1800s when boxing became prominent in the city. And you can see how it grew as boxers like Mickey Walker won world titles in the 20th century. After him came Olympic Gold Medalist, Joe Walker, and after that, the legacy continued with Bernard Hopkins. Certainly, you’ve heard of the Rocky movie series and the statue at the top of the art museum steps in the heart of the city…

Fast forward to the present day and you can find how combat sports has expanded significantly throughout Philly. A lot of the MMA and boxing gyms have popped up and expanded to surrounding areas of the mid-Atlantic region. With stars like Eddie Alvarez and Paul Felder, Philadelphia has produced UFC greats. But the sport there is only growing.

Now, bare-knuckle boxing takes center stage.

The Home Team

On January 25th, BKFC takes over Philadelphia. They are bringing legends and surging prospects to the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. At the top of the card, Eddie Alvarez will fight fellow UFC alum, Jeremy Stephens.

Fighters from Pennsylvania include Dustin Pague, Travis Thompson, Noah Norman, and Zachary Parnell. But Philadelphia’s own is the heart and soul of this card… Led by Eddie Alvarez, there are 6 fighters in total: John Garbarino, Pat Sullivan, Zedekiah Montanez, Cody Russell, and Joey Dawejko.

At KnuckleMania 5, we’ll see boxers, MMA fighters, and kickboxers. On Saturday night, they’ll look to show and prove that Philadelphia is the hub for combat sports.

Eddie Alvarez

In the main event, Philadelphia’s own, “The Underground King” Eddie Alvarez will scrap with Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens. Each man will be entering their third BKFC match, but bring in 88 professional MMA fights in total. Blood will be shed and excitement will transpire. As for the trash-talking… It has already begun thanks to the first press conference on December 3rd, 2024.

The Philly Boys

Moving forward, the card has a Philadelphia native and a former pro boxer, Joey “Tank” Dawejko. He makes his BKFC debut against Steven “Panda” Banks. Cody Russell makes his promotional debut against Logan Tucker. He is hot prospect on the rise touting a 2-0 MMA record and going 1-0 in boxing so far.

In addition, Zedekiah Montanez, an undefeated MMA fighter from Northern Philadelphia, faces off against Brandon “Beastmode” Meyer. Pat Sullivan makes his BKFC debut against Kaine Thomlinson Jr. in what promises to be a brawl. Sullivan has already proclaimed he’ll be a future BKFC champion. Lastly, John Garbarino makes his Bare-Knuckle debut when he looks to get past Apostle Spencer.

KnuckleMania 5 is rapidly approaching and is already an early contender for card of the year. If you want to tune in from home, you can find the prelims on Fubo Sports’ YouTube channel. The main card will stream live on DAZN.

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About Post Author

Jake Lippman

A native of Baltimore, Jake has always been a massive supporter of Baltimore sports. However, his passion took a new turn when he discovered MMA through ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. From there, his interest grew to encompass not only PPV events but, also the regional MMA scene and other forms of combat sports. With a focus on written work, Jake is eager to bring engaging, insightful, and thought-provoking content to The Scrap, covering regional MMA, Power Slap, and other Combat Sports conversations.

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