Teeth went flying over the weekend.
In the main event of BKFC 51, Britain Hart would successfully defend her strawweight title against England’s Melanie Shah. Unfortunately for Shah, she’d endure a smacking like no other which cost her a tooth or two.
Still though, Shah somehow survived Hart’s onslaught, showing tons of heart herself by making it the distance after five rounds of action.
‘It Didn’t Go The Way I Wanted, But I Was Still Happy’
Beaten up and bruised from the bare-knuckle contest, the strawweight contender has already shed some words on her loss.
“I think after the first round, I realized that she was a lot tougher than I was expecting,” Shah told Bare Knuckle News post-fight. “Although I expected her to be tough, I just expected her to show a bit more tiredness.
“It didn’t go the way I wanted, but I was still happy that I went all the five rounds.”
Melanie Shah Is Here For It
Many have criticized the referee for not stopping the BKFC title fight after some of Shah’s teeth were knocked out by Hart. But, that wouldn’t stop Shah from fighting on til the final bell.
While she’s going to wear the damage on her face for a while, Shah is content with where she stands after the outcome.
“It might not look like it [but] I enjoyed the whole process,” Shah revealed. “I enjoy being in the ring and challenging myself.
“If I could fight Brit again, I think what I do is… although I fought the way I like to fight, I backed off a little bit more than maybe I should have, and I probably tried to do other things that I wouldn’t normally do.”
This marked Melanie Shah’s first loss in bare-knuckle boxing. Before fighting Britain Hart, Shah was undefeated with back-to-back wins over Sydney Smith and Mathilda Wilson.
