On Friday’s BKFC show in Philadelphia, Florida's Britain Hart defended her BKFC women’s strawweight title for a fifth time against the previously unbeaten Dr. Sarah “TNT” Shell. Two judges scored the fight 48-47 for Hart, and one judge scored the contest 48-47 for Shell. Hart is now 11-3; Shell, who represents Phoenix and entered fight night as the No. 1 contender in the division, is now 3-1. “I feel loved by all of you guys, my team and my sponsors. I haven’t felt this loved in my whole entire life,” Hart said in her post-fight interview. “Thank you guys! Thank you, USA.!” Hart is now tied with Christine “Misfit” Ferea and “King” Kai Stewart for second most successful BKFC championship title defenses, with five. Luis “Baboon” Palomino holds the top spot in BKFC history, with six successful defenses of his BKFC lightweight title. Hart is also now tied with Ferea for second most victories in BKFC history (11), behind only Lorenzo “The Juggernaut” Hunt, who has 13.

 

Philadelphia middleweight Johnny “Cannoli” Garbarino upped his BKFC record to 5-0 with a unanimous decision at the expense of former BKFC light heavyweight champion Mike “The Marine” Richman. Garbarino scored the lone knockdown of the bout. Two judges scored the fight 50-44 and one judge scored it 48-46, all in favor of the unbeaten Garbarino. Richman, who hails from Minneapolis, is now 8-4-1 in BKFC's squared circle. “I broke my right hand. I would’ve liked to knock him out, but it wasn’t in the cards,” Garbarino said in his post-fight interview. “I’m here to fight. I’m here to prove myself. It is what it is.”

 

Philadelphia middleweight Cody “Chaos” Russell climbed to 3-0 with a unanimous decision victory over “Brutal” Jake Bostwick. The fight was declared a draw after five rounds but Russell won the sudden-death overtime round unanimously. The English-born Miami product Bostwick is now 5-3-1.

 

Philadelphia’s “King Zedekiah” Zed Montanez smashed his way to 2-1 with a second straight stoppage victory, needing just 99 seconds to knock out Matt “Ironfist” Maestas in lightweight action. Maestas, who hails from Denver, CO, is now 2-2.

 

Philadelphia’s Matt “White Chocolate” Turnbull turned heads in his BKFC debut, stopping Brandon “The Downs Warrior” Honsvick in the opening round of their lightweight matchup. Turnbull dropped Honsvick once before the referee called a stop to the fight with 11 seconds left in the opening stanza. The Hurricane, UT product Honsvick is now 1-3.

 

Levittown, PA cruiserweight Lex “The Grizzly Bear” Ludlow needed just nine seconds to shred his way to 4-0 at the expense of Drew “Hardbody” Nolan. That’s now back-to-back stoppage victories for Ludlow, who entered fight night as the No. 4 contender in the division. Nolan, who hails from Schenectady, NY, is now 1-4 under the BKFC banner.

 

In the first-ever BKFC One-Round War — a one-round, two-minute fight designed for maximum carnage --  Anthony “AP” Pagan defeated Zach “Lil Mac” Pannell via unanimous decision. Pagan, who represents Chester, PA, sent Pannell to the canvas twice, leading to the 10-7 verdict across all three of the judges’ scorecards. Pagan entered fight night with a 1-0 record; Pannell, who hails from Quarryville, PA, was 1-5 heading into tonight’s hotly anticipated matchup.

 

Philadelphia welterweight Pat “The Irishman” Sullivan evened his BKFC record to 2-2 at the expense of Ruben “The Beast” Arroyo. Sullivan dropped Arroyo once, leading to the TKO finish at 1:33 in the first round. The El Paso, TX product Arroyo is now winless in his first five trips to the squared circle.

 

Oxford, PA light-heavyweight Nick “The Groundskeeper” Willey edged out Eric “BrotherVibe” Westbury for the split decision victory in his BKFC debut. Two judges scored the fight for Willey (29-28, 30-27) and one scored the contest for Westbury (29-28). Westbury, who represents Washington, D.C., is now 0-2 in the Squared Circle.

 

Philadelphia’s Maxiono Griffin was victorious in his BKFC debut in the opening fight of the night, taking out Billy “The Preacher Diggin” Graves in the third round of their welterweight battle. Griffin recorded five knockdowns to the TKO finish at 1:02 of the third stanza. Graves, who hails from Abilene, TX, was also making his BKFC debut.

 

Here are some highlights of BKFC Founder/President David Feldman at his post-event press conference “I couldn’t be happier with how tonight turned out. It’s been a long, hard journey. Everyone travels on the long weekend in Philly, so for us to have a full house is just truly amazing. I’m very, very proud of my team and these (expletive) warriors that gave it their all tonight.”