Conor Cooke wins by KO - and now he wants to bring bareknuckle back home

AN Antrim bareknuckle boxer is hoping that the sport will soon come to Northern Ireland after winning his latest fight in England.

Conor Cooke fought his last bout in Leeds - and it proved to be another dominant, if bruising, performance.

“I was the first Northern Irish/ Irish man to do so,” he said.

“I came as the underdog against a 6'5 experienced heavyweight fighter, who had just recently knocked out a favourite heavyweight in March.

“We fought at cruiserweight, which is a division up from my last bareknuckle fight, which was an Irish title at Light heavyweight, the first legitimate Irish title of its kind.

“I defeated my opponent with a total knock out in the fourth round, from a head-body-head combination. He was a very awkward, strong, rangey fighter and it took me a while to figure him out.

“We both left the circled the ring with injuries. I got six stitches in my face, above my eye.”

But Conor is already back in training and itching to get back in the ring.

“BKFC is getting huge at the minute, with people like Conor McGregor showing big interest, as well as other top world class fighters joining in.

“This is an American promotion that is making its stamp over here in the UK and soon to be in Ireland, and I'm proud to be the first man to help open that door for other boxers coming up or who will be joining the ranks soon. And hopefully help bring a BKFC show to these shores.

“I have fought my whole life in boxing, MMA and kick boxing, but I feel I have found my calling in bareknuckle boxing and I aim to stay here for the rest of my career and be a part of its growth and help get rid of the old views on it.

“It’s two highly trained fighters, fighting under boxing rules to become the best they can be, minus the gloves, in very well run shows - it will be huge here in a few years.”

Conor has thanked those at Heat MMA for their support and for those who travelled to Leeds to cheer him on.

He also thanked sponsors and said it was ‘great’ to have local companies on board.

These include AM Insulation, MN Plasterboarding, CDF Financial and JG Flooring and Screeding.

His next show will be either in Newcastle in July or a massive show in London in September.

Explaining his road to Leeds, Conor said: “After winning the first legitimate Irish Bareknuckle boxing title back in July, I got contacted by an American fighting management team called Jacksonwink, they are also a gym in Albuquerque in New Mexico where I was over living and training back in my MMA days.

“I was training along sides of fighters like Jon Jones.

“They are now doing fighting management and once they got in touch again I jumped at the opportunity.

“They will arrange all my fights for me. Aiming for the big ones.

“I was offered a fight in India, which was MMA, I haven't fought MMA in years but I took the fight anyway.

“But my opponent never got back to us in time. Then I was offered to fight bareknuckle in Dubai over the St Patrick’s Day weekend.

“Again, I accepted everything but the fight never came to be. No opponent.

“But that fight not happening was a blessing.

“During the time waiting on hearing back about Dubai I got offered to fight on a BKFC show.

“BKFC is one of the biggest bareknuckle boxing events there is.

“Possibly the best and biggest. They are an American promotion which big stars signed to them and are breaking into the UK market.

“Once I got that offer it was a no brainer. It’s what we aim for as fighters. To fight on the big shows.

“I accepted everything, then they came back and got me a legitimate opponent. A 6' 5 English fighter with a few nice knockouts on his resume.

“This is a massive opportunity for me and its something I am very excited about. It will lead to bigger and better things.

“I’ve taken a step back from my job as a joiner and I am 100% focused on this. Training out of Heat MMA, Head coach Martin Begley, a life time friend and fighting companion and now coaching me.

“That makes the win even better. Antrim men putting their stamp on a very dangerous sport.

“Due to cutting back on work to train twice a day I am on the look out for sponsorship if any local businesses would like to jump onboard.

“I appreciate the support and love from this wee town.”

Last year Conor brought home a title from Ireland’s first ever official bareknuckle championship..

The Antrim fighter confirmed he had ‘decided to jump into bare knuckle game’ and debuted at a rescheduled event on Friday July 1 at a behind-closed-doors location in Northern Ireland.

Having picked up British and world amateur and pro championship titles in kickboxing, boxing and MMA to his resume, he became the first ever 85kg Irish Bareknuckle Boxing champion in history.