Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) straw-weight champion, Britain Hart, is set to defend her title twice in four weeks, first in her hometown of Salem, Virginia, against Melanie Shah, and then against Po Denman in Thailand, marking an incredibly short time span for back-to-back fights in the sport.
BKFC champion Britain Hart has faced many adversities in her bare-knuckle fighting career, but the challenge ahead might be her most taxing. Friday sees her coming back to her hometown of Salem, Virginia to defend her strawweight title against Melanie Shah in the grand finale. However, even before a breather from this fight, Hart has her next fight lined up against Po Denman in Thailand, courtesy of a BKFC card, taking place on the 4th of November. This close sequence of intense matches is, no doubt, an extraordinary measure for a reigning champion.
Hart is genuinely aware of the uncommon trail she has chosen. She remarked, “That’s how I presented it to some people — I started out with, ‘I know this is a bad idea… I know I can do it. I believe I’m really chasing this legacy, this moment and this opportunity to be legendary.’ She went on to articulate that she yearns to create a defining identity for herself, one that is symbolic of achieving challenging feats. As per her, the decision to defend her title twice in a month was purely due to timing and opportunity, something she had been seeking since her fight in March.
While working as an electrician during her waiting period, BKFC surprised her with two quick offers for fights, first in Virginia and then in Thailand right after. “Here I am just begging to fight… I just want to get in there and fight, which is why I got an electrician job in the first place,” Hart explains. Despite her wins over UFC veterans Paige VanZant and Bec Rawlings and her ongoing championship reign, she feels a great desire to scale more heights. She shared her belief that fighting twice in quick succession will put a fighter in a unique spot, especially when she’s a champion.
However, before she can think of her fight in Thailand, she needs to win her homecoming title fight on Friday. This fight takes her back to her roots, where she previously worked as a grocery store clerk, a bartender, and even in a tree removal service. She states, “To come full circle from doing those jobs to being the main event…it’s really beautiful…I’ve changed my whole life around.” Despite this, she has been tight-lipped about the major upcoming fight in Thailand, not wanting to jinx it and preferring to primarily focus on winning in Virginia before jumping to the next challenge.