LT “Smash” Nelson and Robert Serna to Face off for BYB Super Middleweight Belt at BYB 22 Rocky Mountain Brawl, Saturday December 2 at the Stockyards Event Center in Denver
Newly-crowned champion Sam Liera to take time off from fighting and vacate title.
Denver, CO – BYB Extreme Fighting Series Hall of Fame matchmaker Mel Valenzuela has added a third title fight to the BYB 22 Rocky Mountain Brawl card on Saturday December 2 at the Stockyard Event Center in Denver. In addition to title defenses by BYB Lightweight Champions Mark Irwin and Monica Medina, undefeated Robert Serna (3-0, 3 KOs, Beeville, TX) will take on the “Uncrowned King of the Trigon” Lorawnt-T (LT) “Smash” Nelson (3-1-1, 3 KOs, Arvada, CO via Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) for the BYB Super Middleweight belt.
After unifying the Interim and BYB Super Middleweight championship in August with a decisive victory over Jose Fernandez, Sam Liera (6-0, 4 KOs, Fullerton, CA) has decided to take time off from fighting to contemplate his future. In a post fight interview with ring announcer Kody “Big Mo” Mommaerts, the 39-year-old Liera opined at the time that the only thing that could slow him down was “old age.” In light of those comments and without immediate plans to defend the title in arguably BYB’s most talented weight class (that includes not only Nelson and Serna, but Ryan Jett, former champion Fernandez, and knockout artist Isaiah Quinones, among others), BYB has decided to vacate the title and allow the active contenders to battle for division supremacy.
Said BYB CEO Gregory Bloom, “Sam Liera is BYB legend, and we hope to see him back in the Trigon when he’s ready. In the meantime, as evidenced on our broadcast after his last fight against Jose Fernandez, there are hungry guys literally lined up to challenge for the Super Middleweight belt. We feel it’s only fair to the fighters and the fans to allow those contenders the opportunity to fight for the title.”
Liera handed Nelson his only bare knuckle loss in a December 2022 decision for the BYB interim Super Middleweight title in what was named the 2022 Bare Knuckle Hall of Fame Fight of the Year.
Said Valenzuela, “After the unification match between Sam and Jose, LT deserves a rematch of a fight that he felt he would have won should the match been allowed to have gone more than 5 rounds. He’s been hungry and waiting. Similarly, Serna has knocked out opponents on both sides of the Atlantic and is as deserving as anyone for a shot at gold.”
Tickets for BYB 22 Rocky Mountain Brawl will go on sale shortly and more exciting fights to be announced soon. To stay up to date, follow @bybextreme on social media or visit bybextreme.com.
About BYB Extreme
Originating in South Florida with backyard legend Dada 5000, whose backyard fights gained worldwide popularity online, BYB was founded to harness the excitement of bare knuckle fighting into a more structured product for a wider, more mainstream audience. Since 2015, BYB has worked diligently to grow the reach of bare knuckle on both a domestic and international level, hosting events in Wyoming, Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina, London, and Dubai, and is continuing to work with athletic commissions throughout the United States and globally to expand the fanbase growing sport of bare knuckle fighting. For more information on BYB, visit bybextreme.com and follow @bybextreme on social.
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