A night of electrifying Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) action capped off the second evening of the organization’s groundbreaking Dubai debut, as BKFC 72 took center stage at a sold-out Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. The two-night spectacle, which began with BKFC 71, was broadcast live worldwide via the BKFC App.
In the highly anticipated main event, undefeated featherweight champion “King” Kai Stewart put on a masterclass, defending his BKFC World Men’s Featherweight Title for the fourth time. Stewart, now 8-0, dismantled South Africa’s Tommy “The Farmer” Strydom—who entered the ring undefeated—dropping him twice en route to a unanimous decision victory (50-43 on all three cards).
“I cleaned out the 145-pound division,” declared Stewart to roaring fans. “I break everybody! I’ll do whatever I want,” he teased, hinting at a move to challenge another weight class.
Strydom suffered his first career loss and now holds a 4-1 BKFC record.
In the co-main event, Jessica “The Black Widow” Borga delivered a stunning 32-second, one-punch knockout of Scottish fighter Hannah “The Classical Warrior” Rankin to claim the inaugural BKFC World Women’s Featherweight Championship. Borga, from St. Petersburg, FL, improves to 3-0 in BKFC and solidifies her place as a force to be reckoned with.
“I’m the one and only Jessica Borga, and I’m only getting more dangerous,” she proclaimed. “Send me anybody. I’m here to stay, baby.”
Rankin, a former WBA and IBO boxing champion, now holds a 1-1 BKFC record.
The feature bout saw Spain’s Nico “The Iron” Gaffie pull off a major upset against the No. 2 ranked featherweight Brandon “Superman” Allen. Gaffie dropped Allen four times before securing a fourth-round TKO with just one second remaining. Gaffie moves to 2-0 in BKFC, while Allen falls to 5-2 after entering with a five-fight win streak.
BKFC Partner Conor McGregor appeared during the broadcast, praising the athletes:
“I’m so proud of our warriors and our combatants — win, lose or draw — who put on an amazing spectacle across this two-day extravaganza in Dubai. Maximum respect to the fighters who put it all on the line for our entertainment.”
The action-packed night also featured several impressive debuts:
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Vladislav Tuinov (Russia) scored a lightning-fast 26-second knockout of Sabri Ben Henia (Belgium) in welterweight action.
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John Phillips (Wales) overwhelmed fellow UFC veteran Fabio Maldonado (Brazil), dropping him twice before ending their cruiserweight clash 29 seconds into the second round.
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Aaron Chalmers (England) earned a third-round TKO over Chasa Symonds, who now drops to 0-2 in BKFC.
Kicking off the main card, Iran’s Hassan Yousefi earned a unanimous decision victory over Brazil’s Guto Inocente in a hard-fought heavyweight bout.
In the preliminaries, two explosive first-round finishes ignited the crowd:
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Kazakhstan’s Dilshat Nurym defeated Russia’s Shamil Dzhakhbarov by TKO at 1:23.
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Philippines’ Mark Angel Sadang stopped Iran’s Matin Safari just 87 seconds into the bout.
All four preliminary fighters were making their promotional debuts.
BKFC 72 Official Results:
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Kai Stewart def. Tommy Strydom via Unanimous Decision (50-43 x3)
Defends BKFC World Men’s Featherweight Title -
Jessica Borga def. Hannah Rankin via KO – Round 1 (0:32)
Wins inaugural BKFC World Women’s Featherweight Title -
Nico Gaffie def. Brandon Allen via TKO – Round 4 (1:59)
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Vladislav Tuinov def. Sabri Ben Henia via KO – Round 1 (0:26)
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John Phillips def. Fabio Maldonado via KO – Round 2 (0:29)
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Aaron Chalmers def. Chasa Symonds via TKO – Round 3 (0:16)
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Hassan Yousefi def. Guto Inocente via Unanimous Decision (50-45 x2, 49-46)
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Mark Angel Sadang def. Matin Safari via KO – Round 1 (1:27)
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Dilshat Nurym def. Shamil Dzhakhbarov via TKO – Round 1 (1:23)
