Kai Stewart retained his BKFC Featherweight Title with a unanimous decision over Nico Gaffie Friday in Hollywood, Florida. The bout headlined BKFC 87.
Stewart successfully defended the belt for the fifth time. It wasn’t easy. Gaffie came to fight and landed some solid blows but was outscored by the champion, who was the aggressor. Official scores were 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47. The decison was greeted with some boos from the audience.
Stewart improves to 9-0 with the win. Gaffie is now 3-1.
Stewart was called out by contenders Bryan Duran and Edgard Plazaola after his postfight interview.
Leonardo Perdomo def. Orlando Coulter-KO Round 1
Top-ranked heayvweight contender Leonardo Perdomo (11-0, 11 KOs) overwhelmed veteran Orlando Coulter (2-2) in the co-main event.
Perdomo started fast and Coulter went down in the bout’s early seconds. He got up at nine.
Perdomo continued his assault and a left hand knocked Coulter to his knees. Coulter, cut over the left eye, shook his head as the referee counted.
Perdomo called out BKFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski after the bout and the two faced off in the ring.
Bryan Duran def. Derek Perez-KO Round 1
Former title challenger and hometown favourite Duran needed less than 20 seconds to take out Perez.
Duran entered with a left, then grabbed Perez’s head and unloaded with a series of right hands. Perez went down and rose on wobbly legs. Referee Andrew Glenn waved off the fight at the 19-second mark.
Duran improves to 8-1-1 (8 KOs). Perez’s record evens out at 5-5 (5 KOs).
Shelby Cannon def. Rosalinda Rodriguez-Split Decision
In a battle of women’s strawweight contenders, Shelby Cannon (5-2, 1 KO) handed Rosalinda Rodriguez (3-1) her first pro bare knuckle loss. Cannon won a split decision by scores of 48-46, 49-45, and a silly 49-46 tally for Rodriguez.
Cannon knocked Rodriguez down with a left hand in round one and outworked Rodriguez in a fight fought largely in the clinch.
“It’s already been written that I was gonna be standing here and giving Rosa her first loss. It’s already written that I’m gonna give (BKFC strawweight champion) Britain Hart her first loss as well. That championship belt is mine,” Cannon told Cyrus Fees after the bout.
Full results:
-Bantamweight: Ernesto Suarez def. Victor Flor-TKO Round 1
-Heavyweight: Chino Blume def. Alex Davis-Split Decision
-Flyweight: Chris Garcia def. Chancey Wilson-TKO Round 2
-Flyweight: Jancarlos Rivera def. Samuel Samples-TKO Round 1
-Bantamweight: Robert Armas def. AJ Rodriguez-TKO Round 3
-Light Heavyweight: Jeremy Smith def. Donald Sanchez-Split Decision
-Light Heavyweight: Leo Carrera def. Sabah Homasi-Disqualification Round 2 (illegal spinning back fist)
-Women’s Strawweight: Shelby Cannon def. Rosalinda Rodriguez-Split Decision
-Featherweight: Bryan Duran def. Derek Perez-KO Round 1
-Heavyweight: Leonardo Perdomo def. Orlando Coulter-KO Round 1
-Featherweight: Kai Stewart def. Nico Gaffie-Unanimous Decision
