Christine Ferea’s experience and power crushed Taylor Starling in the main event of Saturday’s Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship event.
The women’s flyweight title fight capped off BKFC 28, which took place at the Rio Rancho Events Center in Albuquerque, N.M.
Ferea came out absolutely on fire and overwhelmed Starling, dropping her almost immediately. When Starling got up, she repeatedly said, “I can’t do it.”
Starling continued on and Ferea continued to pour on the punishment before Starling verbally surrendered, leading the referee to step in and call the fight.
With the win, Ferea has now won four straight BKFC bouts and successfully defended the title she won against Britain Hart at Knucklemania 2 for the first time, while Starling’s three-fight win streak came to an end.
John Dodson joins brother with first-round knockout win
It was a banner night for the Dodson brothers as both John Dodson, and his brother Eric were successful in their BKFC debuts.
The two-time UFC title challenger destroyed fellow octagon veteran Ryan Benoit, knocking him down three times in 1:40 to earn the knockout win.
Following the victory, Dodson celebrated with his brother Eric, who knocked out Eric Villar in just 23 seconds in an impressive pro combat sports debut.
Brad Kelly spoils return of Isaac Vallie-Flagg
Isaac Vallie-Flagg returned to the BKFC ring and got to do it in front of a hometown crowd.
In the featured bout, Vallie-Flagg took on Brad Kelly in his first fight in since suffering a first-round knockout loss to Luis Palomino at BKFC 11 in July 2020. After a back-and-forth first round, the pace picked up a bit in the second, especially in the clinch. When the action took place in space, Kelly was having much more success as he was landing big shots over and over to go up two rounds.
As the fight progressed, Kelly continued to find success, even busting open the left ear of Vallie-Flagg. The fight went to the fifth, and Kelly knocked a bloody Vallie-Flagg down, but the fight continued to the final bell. In the end, Kelly earned a unanimous decision to improve to 3-1 in the promotion.
Get full BKFC 28 results below:
Christine Ferea def. Taylor Starling via KO – Round 1, 0:47
John Dodson def. Ryan Benoit via KO – Round 1, 1:40 (Watch Finish)
Brad Kelly def. Isaac Vallie-Flagg via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44)
Jeremy Smith def. Donald Sanchez via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
Will Santiago def. Jake Young via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 1, 2:00
Eric Dodson def. Nick Villar via KO – Round 1, 0:23
Tony Soto def. Joshua Morales via TKO – Round 3, 1:49
Joshua Moreno def. Zion Tomlinson via KO – Round 2, 1:00
Josh Watson def. Kyle McElroy via TKO – Round 1, 1:24
Jayme Hinshaw def. Cassie Robb via TKO – Round 1, 1:18
Jeremy Sauceda def. Roderick Stewart via KO – Round 2, 1:38