Christine Ferea Apologizes to Crowd After Record-Breaking Title Defense

September 9, 2024

4 months

Christine Ferea seemed more relieved than excited after she defended her Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship women’s flyweight title for a record seventh time Friday night at the Maverick Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. There was a reason she didn’t feel as overjoyed as she had previously.

Ferea missed more punches than she landed against Jade Masson-Wong. Neither woman was able to score a knockdown. There is a case to be made that Masson-Wong won the fight, according to online boxing news.

Two judges scored the fight 49-46 for Ferea, while one gave the decision to Masson-Wong by a 49-46 score. Ferea helped herself out by throwing more volume. During the fight, Ferea threw 143 punches, while Masson-Wong only attempted 106.

Masson-Wong landed 70 percent of her punches, while Ferea only connected on 47 percent of her punches. Masson-Wong would have been the first-ever BKFC champion from Canada had she won.

“We both came out here and put it on the line,” Ferea said. “She did her best; I did my best. I’m sorry guys. My next performance will be better. Thank you to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, David Feldman, all of my sponsors — I appreciate you guys for giving me this opportunity.”

Ferea, 41, is one of the true characters of BKFC. She recently announced that she would be donating her brain to science, when she eventually passes away, to be used for CTE research.

UFC Veteran Continues to Improve in New Home

Jeremy Stephens once had a famous back-and-forth with Conor McGregor at UFC 205. Stephens would like to trade punches with McGregor someday. There is hope that McGregor, who is a part-owner of BKFC, may choose to fight in the promotion one day should his contract with the UFC run out.

“Nobody deserves that fight more than me,” Stephens said. “(Expletive) Conor McGregor. Who wouldn’t love to beat up their (expletive) boss, baby?”

Fighting McGregor is likely a fever dream for Stephens. But the latest online boxing news shows that Stephens has proven himself a capable contender in the BKFC. Stephens beat Bobby Taylor Friday night in a lightweight fight.

During the final three rounds, Stephens knocked Taylor down once. Stephens picked up a dominant 49-43 decision on all three judges’ scorecards. BKFC has turned into a good home for Stephens, who had 34 professional fights in the UFC.

However, Stephens’ MMA career had hit a rough patch over the last few years. Stephens attempted to go to the PFL to revitalize things, but that failed to give him any kind of spark. He will likely never fight McGregor but should get plenty of opportunities to fight to climb the BKFC rankings.

Drako Rodriguez Dominates Feature Fight

While the main event and co-main event both went the distance, Drako Rodriguez brought fireworks in the feature fight. Anyone looking at boxing updates tonight will see that Rodriguez overwhelmed Trever Bradshaw in a lightweight fight. The fight turned early in the second round.

Rodriguez was able to string together some stiff punches to pick up a knockout just 55 seconds into the second round. Rodriguez is now 2-0 in his BKFC career. Rodriguez, who has seven professional fights in traditional gloved boxing matches, said he still feels a little weird fighting without gloves.

Jones Enjoys Home Field Advantage

Mike Jones would have rather seen his first win in the BKFC come in his debut. But Jones had a hard time with a more experienced Erick Lozano. What Jones got the opportunity to do because of his first loss was pick up his first win in his home state of Utah.

Jones gained the upper hand on Diego Romo by scoring a knockdown. Otherwise, Jones controlled the pace of the fight with his more accurate striking.

Thanks to that pace, Jones was able to pick up a 50-44 decision on all three judges’ scorecards.

Davis Thought it Would be Tougher Than This

Alex Davis believed that his chin would hold up well in the BKFC environment. Despite Davis wanting to take risks and test out his toughness, that challenge never presented itself. Davis laid out Hayden Brown in 20 seconds during his BKFC debut.

He will be hoping to find out how durable his chin is during his next fight. Davis didn’t need to figure anything out this time around.

Rumsey Figures Things Out

Being a heavyweight fighter always presents a high level of risk. Lewis Rumsey knows all about the challenges that go with squaring off with the biggest men in the promotion. Rumsey had lost his previous three fights before squaring off with Jeremy Morrison.

After a first round where both men traded punches, Rumsey asserted his dominance in the second round. Not long into the second round, Rumsey connected on a combination that wobbled Morrison. Rumsey would end up earning the knockout just 29 seconds into the second round.

McElroy Gets Some Relief

Kyle McElroy had lost four of his previous five fights going into a light heavyweight matchup with Lehi Dominquez. Another loss would have led to serious questions about whether or not McElroy should continue to try to win fights in the BKFC. Instead of folding, McElroy showed he still has plenty of fight left in him.

McElroy ended up overwhelming Dominguez, picking up a TKO victory in just 29 seconds.

Here’s a look at the rest of the fights on the card not mentioned above: