Lane makes the walk for the first time as a champion five months after beating Gorjan 'Gogo' Slaveski for the vacant 165-pound title. The win capped off a five-fight win streak that began with a win over Murat Kazgan in November 2023.
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Pague prepares for his first major world title after 20 years as a professional fighter. The 38-year-old is coming off back-to-back second-round knockouts of previously undefeated contenders Ryan Petersen and Andrew Angelcor to improve to 5-2 in bare-knuckle.
Herring's debut in the co-main event will come against three-fight veteran Matt Guymon, who is 1-1 in the BKFC. Guymon's only loss came against Ryan Reber, who just fought for the vacant bantamweight title.
Local undefeated prospects Rico DiSciullo and Guilherme Viana also compete on the card earlier in the night. Both fighters have had immense success in the ring after transitioning from MMA.
DiSciullo, 2-0, returns for his third bare-knuckle bout against 1-0 Ashton Caniglia. DiSciullo, who grew his fan base as a former contestant on the UFC reality show The Ultimate Fighter, collected a pair of show-stopping knockouts to begin his career in 2025.
Viana is just one fight into his bare-knuckle career, but he already stamped himself as a name to watch in the heavyweight division. The Brazilian made his debut on the final event of 2025, knocking out Aleem Whitfield in the second round, and is attempting to go 2-0 in as many months.
BKFC 86 start time
Start time: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
Stream: DAZN
BKFC 86 fight card
Main card
(C) Julian Lane (9-8) vs. Dustin Pague (5-2), for the BKFC welterweight title
Jamel Herring (debut) vs. Matt Guymon (2-1), bantamweight
Dalvin Blair (2-0) vs. Ramiro Figueroa (3-1), welterweight
Rico DiSciullo (2-0) vs. Ashton Caniglia (1-0), lightweight
Guilherme Viana (1-0) vs. Juan Figuerva (1-0), heavyweight
Ras Hylton (debut) vs. Branko Busick (debut), heavyweight
Nate Ghareeb (debut) vs. Tray Martin (debut), lightweight
Joey Gambino (debut) vs. Kurtis Ellis (0-1), featherweight
Prelims
Zachary Pannell (1-4) vs. Brandon Meneses (0-1-1), featherweight
Jared Lennon (1-1) vs. Gregorio "Chachi Versace" Gonzalez (0-1), bantamweightfgh