Britain Hart Defends Women’s Strawweight Title at BKFC 63 & Ties Record For Most Title Defenses

August 5, 2024

4 months

Picturing the BKFC without Britain Hart doesn’t seem possible. Britain Hart was on the ground floor of the young organization. Hart’s first fight came at BKFC 2 in August 2018. While Hart lost her first two flights in the promotion, she soon found her footing and became a fixture of the sport.

By beating Taylor Starling in a unanimous decision Saturday night at the Buffalo Chip Campground in Sturgis, South Dakota, Hart recorded her third title defense of her women’s strawweight championship. That victory allowed her to equal the record for most title defenses by a female fighter with Christine Ferea.

Ferea, who is the women’s flyweight champion, is an old rival of Hart’s. Hart lost via decision to Ferea for the inaugural flyweight championship in 2022 and by knockout for the Police Gazette Women’s Featherweight American Championship back in 2019.

With the win, Hart reached several important milestones. She is now the all-time leader in the women’s division for most victories and appearances. Hart is 9-3 in her career, including seven wins in her last eight fights.

Online boxing news shows that Hart believes she is the top dog among female fighters in the BKFC.

“I told you I’m the baddest female to do it,” Hart said during an in-ring interview following the fight. “Shoutout to all badass women. That’s why I’m here today. I want to show that we can still kick ass and look good doing it.”

Shewmaker Shows He Is Capable of More

Sam Shewmaker will never be able to completely erase the shame of taking a 19-second knockout loss to Josh Burns. But the BKFC is willing to give fighters second chances for redemption. When Shewmaker had his opportunity for a rematch with Burns, things went considerably differently.

Not only did Shewmaker win this time around, but the fight also lasted significantly longer than 19 seconds. This time, Stewmaker was able to stay away from Burns’ power shots. The latest boxing news today shows that Shewmaker instead focused on outboxing Buns.

This strategy would work in his favor. Shewmaker proved he was the better boxer, improving to 5-4-1 in the squared circle by winning four of the five rounds between the two fighters.

Josh Dyer Presents Case to Win Championship

Josh Dyer had to believe he was cursed. Dyer climbed to No. 2 in the light heavyweight rankings only to have his career get a little weird. Before his fight with William Albrecht this weekend, Dyer had seen his previous two fights end in no contests.

But MMAfighting latest updates show that Dyer didn’t have that problem last weekend. Dyer landed such a devastating knockout shot that it drew the reaction of former UFC champion and BKFC part-owner Conor McGregor. During the first round, Albrecht got aggressive and attempted to launch a wild strike at Dyer along the ropes.

But Dyer coolly planted his legs and dug in. He landed a counter shot right on the chin to put Albrecht out. Albrecht fell immediately to the canvas, glancing off the ropes on his way to landing face-first off the mat.

Acheson Builds Up Momentum

Bryant Acheson enjoyed having an opportunity to fight relatively close to his Montana home. Acheson demonstrated a high level of comfort when taking on Joseph Creer in a cruiserweight fight. Acheson set a high pace from the outset of the fight that Creer struggled to keep up with.

Outlander Creer would end up winning on all three judges’ scorecards. Two judges scored the fight 49-44, while a third judge had it as a clean sweep for Acheson, 50-43.

Grady’s Return Gets Spoiled

Roberto Armas was in a difficult position. He was tasked with attempting to beat a fighter, Jack Grady, who had developed a strong following in the BKFC fanbase. Grady hadn’t fought since 2022 and hoped to reintroduce himself to the world with a strong victory.

But Grady’s reentry turned into a one-sided beatdown. Armas was willing to engage in what became an action-packed bantamweight matchup. Armas would end up spilling Grady to the canvas six times before the fight was finally stopped in the third round.

Some ring rust may have impacted Grady, but this was a surprisingly poor performance. If Grady wants to fight again, he must make major improvements.

Josh Watson Protects Ranking

Josh Watson knows there is a narrow margin between being a potential title challenger and falling back to the rest of the pack. The No. 3 ranked contender in the heavyweight division didn’t leave anything up to chance against Reuben Roundstone. From the opening bell, Watson knocked his challenger back repeatedly.

Anyone looking at boxing updates tonight will see that Watson scored four knockdowns in 102 seconds. The referee had seen enough following the fourth knockdown and stopped the fight.

Watson has now won three straight by knockout, while Roundstone has yet to win a match in the promotion.

Ohio Native Leaves Strong First Impression

Brandon Conley wanted to leave the fans wanting more following his first fight in the BKFC. Conely, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, was able to gain everyone’s attention by pushing around DJ Tice Jr. Over the course of their three-round fight, Conley was able to score five knockdowns.

Conley’s mix of speed and power was too much for Tice to handle. He always seemed to be one step ahead of Tice. The important part for Conley will be to continue to pick up more skills if he wants to be a cruiserweight contender.

Scoring a third-round knockout during his first fight was a great way to start.

Here are the results for the other fights on the card not mentioned above: