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BKFC 63 headliners Taylor Starling and Britain Hart got cheeky at the ceremonial weigh-ins and faceoffs.
BKFC 63 takes place Saturday at Legendary Sturgis Buffalo Chip in Sturgis, S.D.. The fighters on the card squared off Friday for the ceremonial weigh-ins and faceoffs. Headliners [autotag]Taylor Starling[/autotag] and [autotag]Britain Hart[/autotag] were among the pack.
Check out the best photos below (via BKFC).
Melanie Shah’s face was like something out of a horror movie from the damage sustained at BKFC 51. File this one under “interviews that go hard.”
Those of us who have watched combat sports and particularly bareknuckle boxing know there’s a level of inherent damage and violence when it comes to the fights we love.
Often desensitized to the frequent broken orbitals, concussions, busted noses, and occasionally broken limbs, every once in a while fight-related injury crosses over the “carnage” line and wakes me up for a minute.
[autotag]Melanie Shah[/autotag]’s face after her BKFC 51 loss Friday to [autotag]Britain Hart[/autotag] can be added to that exclusive list of savagery.
I mean, just check out a clip from her post-fight interview with Bare Knuckle News.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx32ErIvN3C/
Ho-lee sheet.
Bareknuckle boxing’s superficial damage is something that stuck out from the start. If you’re gonna take the gloves off, you’re likely going to get sliced. In its short time being sanctioned here in the U.S., we’ve certainly seen some blood baths. I mean, just check this sh*t out. Yes, I’m looking at you, Jason Knight and Artem Lobov.
Anyway, this one really jumps out to me as perhaps the craziest amount of post-fight facial damage I can remember. Perhaps it’s because we don’t often hear from defeated fighters 20 minutes after they sustain such damage.
What makes this interview even more eye-catching to me is Shah’s demeanor. Shoutout to her. It’s just another day in the office.
“Even though I don’t look like it, I enjoyed the whole process and enjoyed being in the ring and challenging myself,” Shah said.
She’s speaking with the cadence of someone being interviewed on the local news about their thoughts on the grand opening of a new baseball field. It’s not like she lost her bottom teeth minutes earlier or anything.
Fighters are a different breed from the rest of athletes – and continuing to watch stuff like this happen, maybe we’re a different breed from the rest of sports fans, right?
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, that’s on you.
BKFC 51 took place Friday in Virginia where Melanie Shah lost her teeth vs. Britain Hart.
[autotag]Britain Hart[/autotag] has a knack for fighting without gloves.
Sanctioned bareknuckle boxing is still in its early dawn, but Hart fight-by-fight has carved herself a spot in the history books as she continues to largely dominate each opponent placed in front of her. Friday was no different as she defeated [autotag]Melanie Shah[/autotag] in the BKFC 51 main event to retain the promotion’s strawweight title.
The event took place at Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va. and not only saw Hart win a unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45), but also knock teeth out of the mouth of Shah (2-1) in the final two minutes of the bout.
TEETH ARE FLYING IN RD 5 🦷 pic.twitter.com/52KyuMrzro
— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) September 30, 2023
The bout was Hart’s first of two scheduled less than two months apart. Should she be deemed healthy by doctors backstage after Friday’s bout, Hart will compete Nov.4 at BKFC Thailand 5 vs. Chisakan Ariphipat (2-0).
Hart’s title defense extended her winning streak to four and was her second title defense.
Additional bouts on BKFC 51’s main card included former UFC fighter [autotag]Dustin Pague[/autotag] (3-1) vs. [autotag]Joe Elmore[/autotag] (2-3), and [autotag]Stanislav Grosu[/autotag] (3-2) vs. [autotag]Blake LaCaze[/autotag] (1-4).
Check out the full results below:
MAIN CARD (FITE, 9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 8 p.m. ET)
Check out these photos from the fights at BKFC 29 in Great Falls, Mont.
Check out these photos from the fights at BKFC 29 at Pacific Steel & Recycling Arena in Great Falls, Mont., which featured a strawweight title fight between Britain Hart Beltran and Charisa Sigala. (Photos courtesy of BKFC)
Check out these photos from the BKFC 29 weigh-ins in Montana.
Check out these photos from the weigh-ins and fighter faceoffs for BKFC 29, which features a strawweight championship bout between Britain Hart Beltran and Charisa Sigala at Pacific Steel & Recycling Arena in Great Falls, Mont. (Photos courtesy of BKFC)
Check out these photos from the BKFC 26 pre-fight press conference in Florida.
Check out these photos from the BKFC 26 press conference at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. (Photos courtesy of BKFC)
Britain Hart and Pearl Gonzalez left it all inside the BKFC cage on Friday evening at BKFC 22.
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:
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Love wins for Britain Hart and Joey Beltran at BKFC 19.
TAMPA, Fla. – For the first time, [autotag]Britain Hart[/autotag] and [autotag]Joey Beltran[/autotag] went into a Bare Knuckle FC event as a married couple.
Friday night at BKFC 19, it was Hart doing the fighting and Beltran the cornering as Hart – who previously made a name for herself by spoiling Paige VanZant’s BKFC debut – defeated Jenny Savage with a third-round TKO at the Florida State Fairgrounds.
Afterward, Hart and Beltran, who got married during fight week, spoke to MMA Junkie about the experience.
“I owned up to it. I said, ‘There’s no way I’m going into a fight just being married and losing,'” Hart said. “So we did it. It was awesome. And I love that we got to make out on the ring after (inaudible). It was pretty bad ass, so I’m glad it worked out.”
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You can watch the full interview with Hart and BKFC heavyweight champion Beltran in the video above as they discuss their family being supportive of their fighting careers, the emotions Beltran felt as a husband watching his wife fight for the first time, Hart deserving a title belt and their reaction to an expected tournament, and more.
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Watch Paige VanZant and Rachael Ostovich faceoff ahead of rematch at BKFC 19.
TAMPA, Fla. – [autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag] and [autotag]Rachael Ostovich[/autotag] kept things professional during their first faceoff of fight week ahead of their rematch.
VanZant and Ostovich faced off Wednesday at the Bare Knuckle FC 19 press conference. The two former UFC fighters headline BKFC 19 card on Friday.
It’s a rematch that stems from their January 2019 MMA bout when VanZant won by first-round armbar at UFC Fight Night 143. This time, it will be an all-out standup battle as the recently signed Ostovich makes her bareknuckle debut.
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Additionally, the press conference featured other staredowns in [autotag]Britain Hart[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jenny Savage[/autotag], [autotag]Taylor Starling[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Cassie Robb[/autotag], as well as the platform showdown matchups.
Check out the full faceoffs for the BKFC 19 main card in the video above.
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“It’s the biggest letdown in the world, but I know it’s not going to shape me or define me,” Paige VanZant said of her loss to Britain Hart.
[autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag] is fired up and looking to get back in the ring.
The former UFC fighter and now Bare Knuckle FC competitor wants to return this spring to bounce back from her unsuccessful debut last week. VanZant lost to Britain Hart by unanimous decision in a 125-pound contest in the main event of “BKFC: KnuckleMania.”
VanZant, who left the UFC as a free agent in 2020, has no opponent in mind for her second BKFC bout, but she hopes to get booked quickly so she can put her loss behind her.
“I would like to fight in April. I really want to capitalize on my momentum from that fifth round,” VanZant told SiriusXM’s Knuckle Up Radio. “Im ready to rock. I need to get back in there again. I will say, overall experience, it will be one to remember. I did enjoy the moment, (but) I didn’t enjoy the outcome. I enjoyed the moment with Britain in that fight. It was awesome.”
Although VanZant came up short, she did find some success in the fight. The former “Dancing with the Stars” competitor lost the majority of the bout but managed to turn up late and take a round on all three judges’ scorecards.
VanZant would love to get a rematch with Hart, but just not yet.
“She (Hart) did amazing,” VanZant said. “She was able to frustrate me during the fight, and I think that’s the biggest compliment I can give her.
“Her composure was amazing with every round. She’s got a dog in her, and it took me to get to the fifth round to find mine. I do think we’ll cross paths again. I don’t think I deserve to fight her in an immediate rematch. Yes, we had a close fight, but I don’t see it as close as a lot of the world sees it.
“I think I won the fifth round, but I wasn’t happy with my performance Rounds 1 through 4. It took that fifth round to get that rhythm. I think me and her will cross paths again, and I want that to hopefully be for the title. I think that fight should happen later in my career, and I think I need to get more wins and earn my shot against her.”
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Even though the defeat stung, VanZant won’t dwell on it. She knows what adjustments need to be made moving forward and plans on addressing them.
“There’s a few things that I’m going to take away from it and go to the gym and adjust and learn,” VanZant said. “It was a really big learning process throughout the fight.
“As the rounds went, I felt like I was adjusting and kind of finding my rhythm and finding what was working what wasn’t. I stepped into an entirely different sport really and not being able to fully train this sport unless you fight. You can’t really box bare-knuckle in the gym, so it was an adjustment period. It sucks, it’s unfortunate, I’m not happy. I’m never happy with a loss, ever. It’s the biggest letdown in the world, but I know it’s not going to shape me or define me. I know I can go back and learn and get better.”
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