Tai Emery is making her own lane in BKFC.
Rewind back to September 2nd, 2022, you might recall a viral video going across all social media platforms of a girl flashing a crowd moments after she won a fight. But in this business, viral moments come and go and most of the time you don’t even bother to look further into them. So, there’s a bunch of things you probably don’t know about that video. First and foremost, her name is Tai Emery (1-1, 1 KO).
She had just won her BKFC debut by first round knockout against a girl she wasn’t expected to beat. The fight took place in Thailand, thousands of miles away from where BKFC and Tai have made their mark.
The 37-year-old, Australian, first made a name for herself by playing in the Legends Football League. It was through that endeavor where she was introduced to former UFC champion Miesha Tate. Someone who Emery credits for nudging her in the direction of combat sports.
Once she had finished with her football career, she got into MMA in 2018. In 2020, she decided to travel to Thailand for a recovery retreat and do some Muay Thai training. Or so she thought. After that she was supposed to go to Bali, Indonesia, but thanks to COVID-19, that trip to Thailand turned into a life changing moment for her.
She was at the airport, planning to board a flight to Bali, when the pandemic had reached Thailand, forcing everyone to remain in the country. So, she headed back to the gym she was not only training at but living in and came to the conclusion the only course of action now was to take that Muay Thai training and put it to use. But it wasn’t just because she thought she could, it was also her best chance at surviving financially. That’s how she would become a professional fighter.
Stuck in Thailand, living in a gym in a jungle, fighting professionally in a sport she was just introduced to, Emery was able to not only embrace the situation but thrive in it because in 2022, BKFC would come to Thailand and they wanted her to be on the card.
When they came calling, she thought it was a joke, and hung up the phone. But then when the Founder & President of the company, David Feldman called her again, she took it seriously and accepted the opportunity.
Three months after her debut she took on our pound for pound number three ranked female fighter Po Denman (3-0). That fight wouldn’t go as well as her first but she did put up a valiant effort that could’ve earned her the win on the cards. Unfortunately for her, it was in Thailand, Denman’s home country, and the judges sided with her.
But that still speaks volumes to how good Tai Emery could be and how impressive that is given how she got here.
On July 28th, 2024, Emery makes her return to the bare knuckle ring, being one of the first BKFC fighters to fight under the new partnership with Rizin Fighting Federation and BKFC. The fight will take place in Japan and she’s taking on Charisa Sigala (1-4-1), a girl who has fought and gone the distance with two more of our pound for pound females, the current BKFC Strawweight Champion Britain Hart and her next challenger Taylor Starling.
This is Tai Emery’s chance to re-announce herself as a major player in BKFC. May that come with another viral video? Maybe. But her talent shouldn’t be ignored or forgotten.
Photo courtesy: BKFC
Commentaires