Jamel Herring To Headline BKFC 89 Against 7-Fight UFC Veteran

Jamel Herring will look to become just the second fighter to win world titles in both boxing and BKFC. The former WBO super featherweight champion has an opportunity to conquer another sport in just his second bare-knuckle bout against former UFC flyweight Nate Maness.

Herring, 40, and Maness, 34, will headline BKFC 89 with the vacant bantamweight title on the line. The promotion announced that the title fight will lead a May 22 event at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California.

Herring's close friend, Austin Trout, is currently the only former boxing world champion to win a title in the BKFC. Trout also accomplished the feat in his second bare-knuckle fight, defeating Luis Palomino at BKFC 57 to claim the welterweight championship.

BKFC 89 will mark the promotion's second event in Palm Desert in seven months. They were last in the Acrisure Arena for BKFC 84, which ended with Lorenzo Hunt flattening Josh Dyer to reclaim the middleweight title in a stunning comeback.

Jamel Herring, Nate Maness aim to end BKFC bantamweight drama

Herring is coming off a five-round decision win over Matt Guymon at BKFC 86 in his bare-knuckle boxing debut. Herring out-landed Guymon 97-55 while recording a knockdown in the second round.

After going just 1-3 in his four most recent boxing fights, Herring looked at home in the bare-knuckle ring. Herring's potent jab never allowed Guymon to get into a rhythm, while he noticeably fought with much more aggression than he had in most of his recent boxing bouts.

Maness is 2-0 in the BKFC, winning both fights by knockout. The Tennessee native last collected a second-round knockout of Tyler Randall on the main card of BKFC Hammond in October 2025.

Although he never breached the UFC rankings, Maness had a respectable 5-2 career in the Octagon, with his only losses coming to Tagir Ulanbekov and Umar Nurmagomedov, a pair of Khabib Nurmagomedov proteges.

Herring and Maness will fight for the title recently vacated by Justin Ibarrola, who just became the division's champion with a win over Ryan Reber in December 2025. Ibarrola recently signed with Misfits Boxing and confirmed on Instagram that the "gloves stay on" in his next fight, indicating that his bare-knuckle career will be put on hold.

Ibarrola is now the second fighter in the last year to lose a BKFC title for accepting a fight outside of the promotion, following lightweight champion Franco Tenaglia. The Spaniard returned to the promotion in a four-man championship tournament to reclaim his old title, only to be removed from the rankings yet again after competing in the PFL.