Paulie Malignaggi suffered a brutal knockout loss Saturday at a Bare Knuckle Boxing event in Manchester, England, stopped by UFC veteran Rolando Dy in the second round.
Dy cracked Malignaggi with a right hand that bounced him off the ropes, but the 45-year-old beat the count. Dy immediately pressed forward again, pushing Malignaggi to a knee and forcing a pause in the action.
The situation did not improve from there, with Dy continuing to apply pressure before landing another right hand that left Malignaggi dazed in the corner. The referee stepped in to stop the fight and prevent further damage.
It was the sixth knockout loss of Malignaggi’s 25-year fighting career. He entered Saturday with a 1-1 bare-knuckle record, having suffered a memorable loss to Artem Lobov at BKFC 6 in 2019 before returning to defeat Tyler Goodjohn at a BKB event last October. Prior to his bare-knuckle career, Malignaggi held the IBF and WBA boxing titles.
Dy, meanwhile, has found new life in the bare-knuckle format since transitioning from MMA. Saturday’s win improved him to five wins in six bare-knuckle bouts since debuting in the discipline in 2022.