Former BKFC champion signs with PFL and will make his debut at PFL Madrid in March

A bare-knuckle fighter with sneaky jitz skills has joined the Professional Fighters League.The promotion announced Thursday that it picked up former Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship lightweight beltholder Franco Tenaglia (5-2 MMA, 5-1 BK). The Argentina-born 155er will make his debut with the organization on March 20 at PFL Madrid at the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid, Spain, which also serves as his hometown. His opponent is not yet known.

The Spanish fighter is leaving the naked ranks behind for the time being, although the PFL has not stated that the contract was exclusive as fighters on the roster may occasionally compete elsewhere. With BKFC, Tenaglia never lost a match and won all five of his appearances that culminated in winning a title. When he planned to put it on the line in 2025 in a rematch with the man he won the match against in Tony Soto, visa issues forced him out of the pairing. As a result, BKFC stripped his belt and forced him to participate in a tournament to regain it.

Lots of experience with bare knuckles

In addition to his five outings at BKFC, he tested himself at a Spanish gala event in 2023 called Dogfight Wild Tournament. He fell short by split decision and hasn’t lost in BK since. He also retired for a mixed rules fight in the defunct Polish league Wotore, where he won with elbow strikes.He started his professional MMA career a few months after some bare-knuckle fighting and has five wins to date. All five of his wins have come against opponents with records of .500 or less, and he has recorded four finishes in those five victories. On the other hand, the two men tasked with beating him came in with professional records of 4-0 and 3-0, and both stopped him in the distance. Last year, Tenaglia rattled off a pair of first-round rear naked chokes at War MMA in Spain.