BKFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Britain Hart’s next challenger is official.
Hart will defend her title against popular Australian Tai Emery on 4 April at BKFC Dubai.
Britain Hart No Paper Champion
Hart makes the fourth defence of the title she won in 2022. The 35-year-old Virginia native is one of the promotion’s most tenured fighters, with an overall record of 9-3.
After losing her first two fights to Bec Rawlings on points and Christine Ferea by cuts, Hart defeated journeywoman Randine Eckholm in a bounceback fight. The win earned her a fight with Paige VanZant at the inaugural KnuckleMania event in 2021.
Hart upset the favoured VanZant by decision, before stopping Jenny Savage and outpointing UFC veteran Pearl Gonzalez to earn a shot at Ferea’s women’s flyweight title. Ferea once again turned back Hart, winning a close but unanimous decision.
BKFC created the strawweight division, and Hart moved down in weight to fight for the title. After beating Charisa Sigala for the belt, Hart beat Savage on points and won a decison over the UK’s Melanie Shah. Hart defeated Taylor Starling by close decision in her last fight at BKFC Sturgis last August.
She now faces her next challenge in Emery, a talented fighter from Down Under with a large social media following.
“Interesting Celebration Right There”
Emery brings a 2-1 (2 KOs record) into the Hart fight. She comes off a devastating win over veteran Charisa Sigala at Super Rizin 3, breaking Sigala’s nose and stopping the veteran in the first round.
Emery is best known for flashing a boob after knocking out Rung-Arun Khuncai in her BKFC debut in 2022. The incident went viral and she was even interviewed by TMZ. Her celebration stunned BKFC commentator Chris Lytle, who could only say “interesting celebration right there. Haven’t seen that one yet before.”
She’s an interesting individual. Emery is a legitimate professional athlete, who played women’s American football professionally as well as competing in Muay Thai and BKFC. She also once worked as an electrician!
The Australian has shown good punching power in her wins over Sigala and Khunchai. But she’ll need to bring her best to defeat Hart, regarded by some as the second best female bareknuckler in the world after Christine Ferea.
Borgia to Face Rankin
A second women’s title bout takes place on 5 April, the second day of the two-day BKFC event at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
Unbeaten Jessica Borga (2-0) and former pro boxer Hannah Rankin (1-0) compete for the inaugural BKFC Women’s Featherweight Championship.
Borga, an MMA fighter turned bareknuckler, hasn’t gone past the first round in stoppage wins against Sarah Click and Katharina Lehner. Nicknamed “The Black Widow”, Borga trains at the well-regarded Shift MMA in Florida. Shift MMA is the home of BKFC middleweight champ David Mundell and former champ Jared Warren, as well as Borga.
Rankin is a former IBO boxing champion who has faced the likes of Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall. She debuted in bare knuckle last October, winning a split decision over Deborah Melhorn at BKFC Spain.
It’s an intriguing matchup. And the winner could well face Christine Ferea, who could move up in weight after seemingly cleaning out the BKFC women’s flyweight division.
