London, England (August 20, 2022) On Saturday night in front of a huge crowd at the OVO Arena Wembley in London, England, ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry went to a rare sudden death sixth-round to defeat Michael ‘Venom’ Page MVP in the main event of BKFC-27 London broadcast live internationally on the New BKFC App.
Fighting in the middleweight division, Perry danced to the ring but got down to business immediately, dropping Page in the first stanza with a massive right hand to the jaw. With the partisan crowd on their feet chanting ‘MVP’ through, both combatants fought at a very high level throughout the first two rounds. With the taller, rangier Page ‘sticking and moving’ Perry was challenged to fire inside which he commenced successfully in round three. The final two rounds saw excellent two-way action with both fighters taking a wealth of punishment.
At the end of the five rounds the announcement came that the fight was scored a draw and for just the second time in BKFC history a sixth round would take place. The sudden-death round proved the best of the outstanding fight with Perry and Page both emptying their proverbial gas tanks in desperate search of victory.
Said the victorious Perry (2-0) who was declared the winner by majority decision, “I said I was going to go six rounds. I wanted more blood, this is what I was made for. I want to be the toughest SOB out there. Hey, Jake Paul, I’m the real money fight if you ain’t scared to get in here.”
Stated the classy Page, (0-1) in defeat, “I appreciate you all coming out London. I wanted to challenge myself, Perry was very tough and applied pressure throughout the fight. It’s back to the drawing board to make this right. I would love and want the rematch.”
Co-featured in the welterweight division, Connor Tierney (7-1) put on a masterclass of bare-knuckle fighting as he dominated the valiant Joe Elmore, (2-1), over five rounds. Tierney used his rangy length advantage to score with hard-hitting combinations throughout the fight, opening numerous cuts on Elmore in the second half of the fight. Scores at the end of the fight were 50-46, 50-45 and 49-43. Following the victory Tierney was short and direct in his comments, “Luis Palomino, your next!”
Fighting in the lightweight division, rivals Tyler Goodjohn, (1-2), and James Lilley, (2-0) clashed over five rounds. Battling in a very high-level matchup, both United Kingdom native showed their tremendous skills although Goodjohn would suffer a very bad cut above his left eye which he bravely fought through. At the end of a very exciting, evenly matched fight, Lilley was declared the unanimous winner by scores of 50-44, 49-46 and 48-47.
In the heavyweight division, England’s Mick Terrill, (7-1), wasted no time throwing his name into the ring for a world title shot with a first-round knockout (1:59) of former world title challenger Sam Shewmaker, (4-4-1). Dropping Shewmaker twice with massive right hands, Terrill was declared the victor as the referee reached the count of ten.
Battling in the middleweight division, Jake Bostwick, (2-2), of Miami, FL bolted off the scratch line to start his fight against Liverpool, England’s Chris FIshgold and never stopped landing bombs against the brave but outgunned foe. Hurting Fishgold in the opening stanza, Bostwick looked dominant, dropping the bleeding adversary three times before the fight was stopped at the 1:58 mark of round two.
Debuting light heavyweights from England had the crowd roaring throughout as Danny Christie, (1-0), and Terry Brazier, (0-1) both fought through numerous cuts in their hyper aggressive fight. From the opening bell, both responded quickly landing huge punches as blood flowed quickly from each fighter. In both of the initial rounds, Brazier was deducted a point for using an illegal back fist. A riled-up Christie was relentless in his attack following the second foul and drilled Brazier to the canvas with a massive left hook. Following up with a barrage of punches, the referee saved the beaten Christie at the 1:22 mark of round 2.
Heavyweights from England saw action as Dawid Zoltaszek, (6-2) knocked out Adam Harris, (0-1), in the opening round. As both fighters traded huge right hands to start the fight. Zoltaszek was able to impose his will, dropping Harris twice and earning the stoppage at 1:59 of the round.
Light heavyweights made their BKFC debut with David Round, (1-0) of Wales and Ash Griffiths,(0-1), of England battling in front of a raucous crowd of supporters. The southpaw Rounds landed right hands and upper cuts in the first round dropping Griffith to the canvas. In the second stanza, Rounds continued the attack, dropping Griffith twice more with huge right hands as the fight was stopped at :40 of the second round.
Rounding out the main card in the featherweight division, previously undefeated John Hick, (4-0) and Ellis Sheperd, (3-1), fought in a spirited five round clash with heavy punches throughout. At the end of the five rounds, the judges voted for Hick’s come forward pressure awarding him the unanimous decision by scores of 50-45, 48-47 (twice).
Fighting in the prelims, massive heavyweight Rob Cunningham, (2-0) stayed undefeated with a second-round stoppage of BKFC debut Brett May, (0-1). The bout was stopped at the conclusion of the stanza by the ringside physician.
Franco Tenaglia (1-0), looked sensational in his BKFC debut stopping the awkward punching Chasa Symonds, (1-3) as the southpaw scored with big left hands in the first round and earned the stoppage at the 1:58 mark of the second.
In the light heavyweight division, BKFC debuting Dan Vinni, (1-0), shined in front of his hometown crowd dropping the wild swinging Conan Barbaru, (2-2), three times in the first round with precise and heavy punches. Barbaru was dropped again in the second as the fight was stopped at 0:35 of the round.
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