Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA is back with a bang.
The promotion is planning two tournaments, each with a $500,000 prize pool, promotion president Jorge Masvidal has informed MMA Junkie. The tournaments will be 16-men each – one in heavyweight, one in lightweight. All four rounds of the tournament will take place in 2026 with a launch date of April 10 in Dominican Republic. A second event is being planned for May 1 in Miami.
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Masvidal revealed four of the heavyweight matchups to MMA Junkie – including one surprising return to combat sports competition: former UFC title challenger Anthony Smith. He’ll take on fellow UFC alum Chase Sherman. While he’s frequented UFC broadcasts on the desk over the past few years, he retired from competition in April 2025. But now “Lionheart” is back.
Other revealed matchups include Guto Inocente vs. Mohammed Usman, Alexandr Romanov vs. Nikolay Kovalenko, and Todd Duffee vs. Bruno Cappelozza. The other four heavyweight matchups will be announced in the coming days, as will the eight lightweight matchups.
The upcoming events will be the first Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA has held since Nov. 15, 2024. Masvidal said the during the break, he’s been fundraising and has finally secured the funds to kick the tires on a year’s worth of events. Now that the promotion is “back,” Masvidal thinks he’s filling a big void in the MMA landscape.
“I don’t mind taking the loss (from a smaller gate) for making a huge statement online,” Masvidal told MMA Junkie Radio. “We’re giving as much money as we can to the fighters. … Really, who’s doing anything right now? It’s just worked out perfectly. As I wasn’t able to pump so much GFC, the other shows were kind of dying off. And now, I don’t know about these other shows. I haven’t heard a date or anything. So we’re coming in strong these next few years. People are going to have to move aside, brother.”
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Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA uses the same Unified rules of mixed martial arts – minus the gloves. From mid-2023 to late 2024, the promotion held five events under that ruleset. Fighters included the likes of Junior Dos Santos, Roy Nelson, Alan Belcher, and Hector Lombard among others.
“I never wanted to leave,” Masvidal said. “The whole time I was working, in the shadows in the back. It’s what business owners do. I was just hustling, brother. Seeing what I could do, what networks I could get on, what sponsors I could bring on board. I did everything to keep the dream alive, just like fighting. I was able to secure some funds, so here we go.”
The current Bareknuckle MMA lineup for April 10 includes:
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Anthony Smith vs. Chase Sherman
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Guto Inocente vs. Mohammed Usman
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Alexandr Romanov vs. Nikolay Kovalenko
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Bruno Cappelozza vs. Todd Duffee
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA returns with $500k tournaments, ex-UFC star comeback
