One of BKFC's biggest stars has had a long journey to this point.
Britain Hart is one of the most exciting and captivating stars in all of BKFC, thanks to her perfect concoction of boxing skill, hard-nosed toughness, and no-nonsense attitude on the mic.
On August 3rd, 2024, she enters the biggest fight of her life, a main event title defense at BKFC 63 against Taylor Starling. A girl who has only lost to BKFC women’s GOAT Christine Ferea and the number one ranked flyweight contender Jade-Masson Wong. This is Hart’s opportunity to stamp her name as one of the faces of BKFC.
At one point she was a pro boxer living out of her car with a 4-4-3 record, but in 2018 she made the switch to bare knuckle. She lost her first match to former UFC fighter Bec Rawlings in a split decision. And unfortunately for Hart things wouldn’t get any easier in her next one. She would face Christine Ferea, a long-time veteran of the combat sports game. In the second round, Hart would suffer a cut directly above the eye causing a doctor’s stoppage. Not only did she suffer two losses in her first two fights, but it was also a split decision and a doctor’s stoppage. Not exactly the most definitive of defeats.
After the bumpy start, Hart took more than a year away from the squared circle, before returning against Randine Eckholm. The time away might’ve benefitted her as she would finally notch her first win in BKFC and her first stoppage when Eckholm couldn’t continue after body shots in the fourth round. Despite it being win number one, Hart took advantage of the spotlight and walked over to the commentary table to call her next shot. That would be former UFC and current social media star Paige Vanzant. Three months later Hart got her wish.
She used her experience in bare knuckle to gain an advantage in the clinch and would add her second win in a row taking it four rounds to one on all three scorecards. Despite beating VanZant, the next time she would be in the ring would be on the undercard of VanZant vs. Rachel Ostavich. Obviously unhappy with the placement on the card, Hart made her displeasure known at a press conference that she would leave prematurely.
Feeling disrespected by the promotion, Hart used that as fuel for the fire that was her performance. A barrage of punches in the third round left her opponent in a heap and saw Hart pick up her third straight victory.
She would grab another win before the end of the year that put her in line for a shot at the inaugural BKFC women’s flyweight championship and secured her Fighter of The Year honours in 2020.
Across the squared circle was an old foe, pound for pound number one, Christina Ferea. The fight would be a war for the full five rounds but, Hart would ultimately come up short yet again against Ferea.
In Hart’s bounce back fight she chose to attempt to rectify the only other loss of her career, a rematch with Rawlings. Hart showcased the improvements she had made since their first meeting, not entering exchanges wildly but picking her spots and using her bare-knuckle fight IQ to earn a unanimous decision.
(Photo Courtesy: BKFC)
Finally getting past one of the game’s veterans, Hart earned another championship opportunity when BKFC expanded down to 115 pounds, much closer to where she fought as a pro boxer. And this time she wasn’t letting the title slip away. Hart dominated the bout through all five rounds, taking a clean sweep of the cards and finally seeing gold wrapped around her waist.
But as the old adage goes, you aren’t the champ until you defend it. Five months after winning her title she put on a five-round domination of Jenny Savage. Six months later, she sent Melanie Shah home empty-handed, and with a few less teeth.
In her three fights since moving to strawweight, only one judge has given a single round to her opponents, proving that she was always a world class talent but was probably fighting above her weight class.
Hart and her hard-nosed, brash style have turned her from a homeless pro boxer with a .500 record into a world champion and a main event superstar.
Top Photo Courtesy of BKFC
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