The energy and tension inside Xfinity Live! on Friday night was palpable. BKFC, founded and headquartered in Philly, is finally coming home in what is being billed as the biggest combat sporting event in the history of the city. With so many local fighters on the card, the fanbase could hardly hold their excitement every time the fighters made their way to the stage to weigh-in.
And then the best moment of the night happened… the cannoli slap heard around the City of Brotherly Love.
Philly’s own, John “Johnny Garb” Garbarino, was quite a popular figure leading up to his first fight in BKFC. He exudes a certain swagger and aura that is so important in the make-up of a fighter. Garbarino is the biggest favorite on the fight card, so naturally, he used the press conference and weigh-in as a conduit to get the local fans to invest more in what is expected to be a lopsided affair. With the combat sport charisma king and partial owner of BKFC, Conor McGregor, on the stage, Johnny Garb took his moment and ran with it.
It all started as a nice act. Garbarino climbed the steps to the stage where his opponent, Apostle Spencer, had already weighed in. With a box of cannolis in hand, he started handing them out. One for BKFC founder David Feldman. One for Conor McGregor. And one for Apostle Spencer, who very much appreciated Johnny Garb’s graciousness.
It would not last long.
Garbarino had one final cannoli for himself. It looked like the four of them were going to partake in a nice, sweet Italian moment. Then Apostle Spencer moved his cannoli from his left hand to his right, and Garbarino smacked it out of his hand before he could even enjoy a bite.
Spencer then lunged for Garbarino as the stage officials got in the middle, nothing new for a combat sporting event. As the two were being restrained from one another, Garbarino had one final move. He slapped Spencer in the face with that fourth and final cannoli he had saved for himself, something completely new for a combat sporting event.
With ricotta cheese and chocolate chips smeared across his face and right arm, Apostle Spencer kept smiling. He did not get embarrassed, he did not show weakness, and he earned a firm handshake from Conor McGregor.
Kyle Pagan of Crossing Broad asked Johnny Garb about the encounter, and his answer was pretty hysterical:
If the weigh-in was any indication, Knucklemania V is going to be electric when fists are flying instead of pastries.
