A night full of knockouts, Broad Street Bullies, a Brian Westbrook appearance, and more from BKFC’s KnuckleMania V

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship made its way to Philly on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center — right across the street from where an NFC championship game would take place 18 hours later.

But before fans crowded inside Lincoln Financial Field to cheer for their hometown team to claim an NFC title and potentially make another Super Bowl appearance, they flooded the Wells Fargo Center to rally behind former UFC champion and Philadelphia native Eddie Alvarez.

KnuckleMania V was full of excitement from the prelims to the main event in BKFC’s hometown debut. In front of a crowd of 17,762 fans, there was action both inside and outside the ring — including eight knockouts and appearances from Philly sports icons. Here’s everything you missed from BKFC’s KnuckleMania V at the Wells Fargo Center.

On the precipice of the NFC championship game, Philly fans crowded inside the Wells Fargo Center for a night of bare knuckle fighting. Eagles green could be seen on fans walking into the arena, throughout the main concourse and in Taylor “Killa Bee” Starling’s ring entrance. Steve Harper, a 37-year-old BKFC fan, even brought his own Eagles championship belt. Harper said this was the perfect event for Philly to host in the middle of an Eagles postseason run.

» READ MORE: Meet three local fighters pulling no punches at Saturday’s bare-knuckle event inside the Wells Fargo Center

“This was perfect timing,” Harper said. “BKFC came in and it has been such a refreshing sport to watch the pure action since day one. It’s one hundred times better than the UFC. It’s going 100,000 miles per hour. It’s knock ‘em down, pick ‘em up.”

Fans continued to show love to the Birds throughout the night by erupting in Eagles chants from the start of the prelims to the end of the show.

Former Eagles running back Brian Westbrook was in attendance with his own message ahead of the big game on Sunday. “Tonight’s great but we can’t wait until tomorrow to beat up on the Washington Commanders,” Westbrook said.

Bare knuckle fighting isn’t new to Philadelphia. Before there was BKFC, there were the Broad Street Bullies. The Flyers earned the name Broad Street Bullies during the 1972-73 season because of their physical play. Members of the team included Dave Schultz, Joe Watson, and Jimmy Watson, who were there Saturday night.

BKFC founder and president David Feldman was joined by former UFC champ Conor McGregor to honor the former players during Saturday’s event, gifting each with his own BKFC championship belt.

Seven fights ended in knockouts, but the night really started with the prelims in a bout between Itso Babulaidze and Bryan McDowell. Babulaidze won by unanimous decision and one of Philadelphia’s own UFC welterweights, Sean Brady, could be seen in his corner.

Although Brady wasn’t in action, there were six other Philly fighters featured on the card. Only two of the six walked out victorious, including John Garbarino. The 29-year-old was greeted with a loud pop from the crowd as soon as his entrance music hit. The sounds of Rocky’s “Eye of the Tiger” could be heard under the roar of the crowd.

The lights were never too bright for Garbarino. In fact, the Philadelphia native lived up to the moment, making easy work out of his opponent Apostle Spencer with a knockout in the first round. After the fight, Garbarino proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of the ring.

The last time Alvarez headlined in Philly was during his stint with Bellator in a win over Roger Huerta at the Liacouras Center. But the Kensington native never had the chance to headline the Wells Fargo Center. That all changed on Saturday when Alvarez returned to fight in his home city for the first time since 2010. The 41-year-old former UFC champion was greeted with a hero’s welcome.

Despite Alvarez losing to Jeremy Stephens in the third round by TKO, fans still stand by their Underground King, including die-hard BKFC fan Tanner Martin. The 32-year-old said Alvarez means everything to the city of Philadelphia.

“He’s a legend, growing up here,” Martin said. “Fighting here in the city. Philly boys. It’s just different, I don’t know. These guys kind of ride together. I love his aggression, always coming forward, always trying to make it a fight. I love Eddie Alvarez all day. That’s my boy.”

Alvarez was the first fighter to have won gold in both Bellator and the UFC, holding the lightweight championship in both promotions. The former champion was 1-1 in the BKFC ring heading into Saturday’s bout. Meanwhile, Stephens had better luck in BKFC, winning both of his fights in the promotion, including a win over a top-five contender in Jimmie Rivera.