Just before two titles were defended at BKFC 22, flyweights [autotag]Britain Hart[/autotag] and [autotag]Pearl Gonzalez[/autotag] threw down in an exciting battle.
Hart (4-2 BKFC) sought to keep her winning ways alive against Gonzalez, who was entering her second bareknuckle fight. After an exciting five rounds of action, the judges would ultimately see the bout in Hart’s favor with scores of 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46.
BKFC 22, a bareknuckle event filled with MMA veterans, took place at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Fla., and aired on BKFC TV and FITE TV.
The first round started fast and continued to be hotly contested as both fighters landed punches often. Hart was first to the punch, however, and outpaced her opponent in the opening round.
Hart continued to be the aggressor in the second round, getting Gonzalez in a headlock and landing a series of punches before the referee broke up the position. Gonzalez tried to land strikes of her own, but Hart got the better of the moment and the second round as a whole.
Undeterred, Gonzalez bounced back and began to find her range in the third round. The round was filled with heated exchanges, but Gonzalez was slightly more calculated in her offense, resulting in cleaner punches and a nasty cut under Hart’s left eye.
That is a pretty nasty cut under @teambritainhart's eye.#BKFC22 is LIVE on #FITE pic.twitter.com/U0DYEphuzN
— FITE (@FiteTV) November 13, 2021
The pace slowed slightly in the fourth round, but Hart continued to fire first more often and regained control of the action in the final rounds.
The closing moments of the fight was wild, as both women stood their ground and traded punches until the horn sounded and the referee stepped in between them to stop the action. Hart thought she scored a knockdown at the final second as Gonzalez’s hands touched the canvas, but it was not scored as such by the referee.
The judges were unanimous in scoring the contest in Hart’s favor, who entered Friday’s bout on a hot streak of three straight bareknuckle victories. In her previous outing, she finished Jenny Clausius in the third round via TKO at BKFC 19.
Gonzalez, a former UFC and Invicta fighter, won her BKFC debut in June, defeating Charisa Sigala via unanimous decision at BKFC 18, but now falls to 1-1 in bareknuckle competition.
Up-to-the moment results of BKFC 22 include:
- Britain Hart def. Pearl Gonzalez via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
- Gustavo Trujillo def. Mike Kyle via knockout – Round 1, 0:34
- Marcus Brimage vs. Will Shutt declared a split draw (49-45, 46-48, 47-47)
- Howard Davis def. Rusty Crowder via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
- Arthur Walcott-Ceesay def. Joshua Alvarez via unanimous decision (48-45, 48-45, 50-44)
- Montaser Aboughaly def. Cage Noah via knockout – Round 2, 0:46
- James Rodriguez def. Brian Maxwell via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:28
- Peter Peraza def. Manuel Moreira via unanimous decision (48-45, 48-45, 49-45)
- Tyler Randall def. Darwin Bonilla via unanimous decision (48-45, 48-45, 48-45)
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