BKFC’s Bec Rawlings ‘Earned Respect’ at KnuckleMania V: ‘I’m an OG at This S***'

The former UFC fighter-turned-BKFC Champion returned to the win column last weekend by defeating Taylor Starling at KnuckleMania V in Philadelphia. It was one-way traffic for Rawlings after more than a year away, turning in a vintage performance with multiple knockdowns.

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Rawlings battered and bloodied Starling across five rounds, her opponent refusing to go out, somehow surviving to see the distance. A shiner on her left eye, Rawlings got her hand raised by unanimous decision, snagging her fourth win as a bareknuckle boxer.

"I hit her with some really good shots and I thought I had her, and then she just kept rallying back," Rawlings told MMA Knockout at the post-fight press conference. "So yeah, I was a little disappointed. I didn't get the finish. I was really looking for it. I really wanted to put a stamp on that win. But she was really, really tough."

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Respect From Champion Christine Ferea

An inaugural champion in BKFC, Rawlings is a pioneer of the reemerged sport. The Aussie fought atop BKFC 1, 2 and 4, undefeated in the Squared Circle until she met the likes of current champs Britain Hart and Christine Ferea in multiple fights.

Flyweight champ Ferea has beaten up all but one of her opponents, Rawlings one of the few fighters to reach the championship distance with Ferea, receiving praise from her former foe.

"We've earned each other's respect in those first two fights," Rawlings said of Ferea calling her her hardest fight. "I spoke with her before the fight. She's like, 'I underestimated your footwork and your timing and your counters, and she will too.' And she was absolutely right."

"I think she walked into a lot of my crispy counters and she paid the ultimate price for it. It feels really good to have the champ, someone that I've gone to war with twice, kind of sing my praises. And it just shows the respect that us ladies have for each other in bareknuckle. I think everyone, the majority of people in bareknuckle, we have that mutual respect because it's hard to do what we do."

Rawling said it wasn't fun being sidelined for a year, wanting to fight as often as possible. However, the layoff did give the Aussie time to hone her skills and fight bareknuckle with true "finesse" in her return to the Squared Circle.

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"I didn't know what I was walking into," Rawlings recalled of her BKFC debut in 2018, the promotion's first-ever event. "I didn't know like what company I was walking into, if I was even gonna get paid at the end of it. I had no idea, but I said, 'F*** it, let's do it.' I had nothing to lose and I double leg David Feldman after the afterparty, I was so excited because he said I fight like a girl [laugh]."