A packed house of spectators filled the arena next to the River Cree Casino on May 14, 2026, for a unique and brutal combat sport event. In the centre of it all, a 900-square-foot ring sat on the ice, where Cote Bigsnake soldiered on despite a swollen-shut right eye and a puffed-up face. Blood streamed from a large, ever-expanding cut under his ruined eye.
The Fight Night
His opponent, James Dalzell, a bare-knuckle fighting pro who has transitioned to skates, wore a yellow hockey jersey emblazoned with red streaks from his grapples with Bigsnake. When they fell to the ice, blood smeared the back of Dalzell’s jersey, creating a grotesque Pollock-like pattern. Every time Bigsnake went down, he picked himself up and skated over to medics, who shone lights on his broken face and sent him back out. The crowd howled each time he returned, cheering as if watching a mouse in a snake’s chamber. There was no hope for a comeback like legendary boxer Arturo Gatti’s; the audience was there to witness Bigsnake suffer.
Event Details
Finally, the two referees decided enough was enough, and Dalzell won by TKO. This was just one of 10 bouts staged as part of Bare Knuckle Ice Wars, a hockey-fighting circuit created by Smithers, B.C.-raised entrepreneur Charlie Nama. When the fight ended, Dalzell raised his fists, blood dripping from his knuckles. The series features veteran minor league fighters and MMA combatants who have transferred their skills to skates, battling in three one-minute-round bouts. They wear hockey sweaters, pads, and foam helmets. The fighting is so severe that it would not be allowed within Edmonton city limits by the Combative Sports Commission.
Spectacle and Atmosphere
Imagine Romans in robes and laurel-leaf headgear baying for blood as dissidents were tossed to lions. Fast forward 2,000 years: robes replaced by heavy metal shirts with drippy fonts, hoodies bearing the Bare Knuckle brand, and a sea of buttoned-down dress shirts. The machismo is thick, and everyone wants blood. Former NHL enforcer Matthew Barnaby served as emcee, wearing a light blue suit jacket over a white t-shirt. His interviews with winning fighters were filled with expletives and bravado worthy of Randy “Macho Man” Savage.
Other Bouts
In the only women’s bout, Illinois’s Valerie Ruley pummeled California’s Janine “Bear” Pinelli, who was clearly new on skates and couldn’t keep her balance. Divyne Appolon, a young American who spent time with the Sherwood Park Crusaders and the East Coast Hockey League, made short work of Brad Pawlowski, a veteran minor-league fighter with a ZZ Top beard. Pawlowski looked like a wild man on skates, but Appolon’s youth and speed delivered flurry after flurry of punches, quickly ending the fight.
