BKFC is in the state of Montana for the second time ever. At BKFC 29 the organization will have their vacant bantamweight title on line in the main event. That fight sees Britain Hart Beltran, who handed Paige VanZant an L in her BKFC debut, taking on Clarisa Sigala (who is coming in on about 48 hours notice).
Hart Beltran, who married fellow BKFC fighter Joey Beltran last year, welcomed VanZant to gloves-less pugilism at KnuckleMania in February 2021. She won the bout by unanimous decision, earning notoriety for both the win and for the personality she displayed in the lead-up and aftermath of the bout.
That was Hartās fourth fight in BKFC. She lost two of the previous bouts, to Bec Rawlings and Christine Ferea, and got her first win versus Randine Eckholm. Since beating VanZant sheās beaten Jenny Clausius and Pearl Gonzalez and failed to avenge her loss to Ferea.
At BKFC 26 she succeeded in avenging her other loss, though. At that event she won a unanimous decision over Rawlings, setting her up for this fight for the vacant bantamweight title.
She was supposed to meet Fani Peloumpi tonight, but the Greek fighter was denied a visa to travel to the US. So Charisa Sigala got the call on super short notice.
Sigala has a 4-2 pro MMA record with bouts in Gladiator Challenge and Combate. She debuted in BKFC in 2021, losing to Taylor Starling. She lost her second BKFC bout to Pearl Gonzalez that same year. Her third fight in 2021 resulted in a split decision win over Jessica Link. In March she fought to a draw with Angela Danzig.
Sigala slots into this fight despite already being booked to headline BKFC 31 on October 15 versus Paige VanZant.
The co-main has UFC veteran Joe Riggs taking on Josh Dyer aka āKen Dollā. Riggs is a recognizable character from the UFCās first and second boom eras. In the early 2000s he beat Chris Lytle, Nick Diaz and Jason Von Flue and lost to Matt Hughes, Mike Swick and Diego Sanchez.
After some time in Strikeforce, Bellator and anywhere else he could find a fight, Riggs re-signed with the UFC in 2014. He had a short and unsuccessful second stint in the Octagon and was back on the regional circuits in 2016. His BKFC debut came in 2018 vs. Brok Weaver, whom he won a unanimous decision over.
In BKFC he holds a 3-2-1 record. In 2021 he lost, via doctorās stoppage, to former Bellator champion Hector Lombard. He followed that up with a TKO win over Melvin Guillard. Last time out he was stopped by Lorenzo Hunt.
Riggsā opponent has less name-value in combat sports and has amassed a 2-1 record in BKFC. Dyer also holds a pro MMA record of 4-4, though he has never competed at a widely known organization. In BKFC he KOād Jared Warren in 2020, lost to Lorenzo Hunt in 2021 and KOād Dakota Cochrane in 2022.
After beating Cochrane, Dyer called out Riggs. At the weigh-ins yesterday Dyer did his best to get in Riggsā head. Though, as you can see below, āDieselā didnāt seem too bothered by the antics.
Another name of note on the card is Brian Maxwell who fought an exhibition bout opposite former NFL player Chad Johnson on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul event last year. In BKFC he is 0-5 with all his losses coming via KO/TKO. Heās fighting Leo Bercier, who has a pro MMA record of 19-10-1 and is 1-1 in BKFC.
Bercier appeared on the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter. He lost his fight to get into the house after being TKOād by the late UFC fighter, and Bloody Elbow contributor, Josh Samman (we miss you Anqa).
Full card/Weigh-in Results
Bantamweight championship: Britain Hart Beltran (113.6) vs. Clarisa Sigala (115)
Light heavyweight: Joe Riggs (184.6) vs. Josh Dyer (185.8)
Featherweight: Kai Stewart (145.9) vs. Rusty Crowder (150.3)
Welterweight: Dallas Davison (165) vs. Gorjan Slaveski (165.6)
Featherweight: Louie Lopez (145.2) vs. Dylan Schulte (145.6)
Middleweight: Cody Beierle (178.5) vs. JorDan Christensen (178)
Middleweight: Billy Wagner (167.2) vs. Henry Lindsay (169.1)
Strawweight: Nekah Dmitryeva (115) vs. Jenny Clausius (114.9)
Britain Hart is the only completely flat chested woman I think is hot.
I saw the weigh ins and Hart and Sigala both looked good. They came out in bikinis.
Joe for some reason never took off in the UFC like he should have.
Heās insanely talented.
The all time king of practice.
Always heard those stories of how good he really was. Too bad he couldnāt put it together, he seems alright.
No one who I ever spoke about who worked with him didnāt think he was amazing in the gym.
It just never came together for him.
While it was circulating that Saturdayās BKFC 29 bout with Josh Dyer would be the final fight of Joe Riggsā 70-plus pro fight career, the longtime UFC veteran is setting the record straight.
Riggs and Dyer will meet in the co-main event of the promotionās return to Montana. Ahead of the fight, āDieselā cleared up comments from BKFC and is very confident heāll compete again after Saturday.
āI donāt know where that came from that this is my last fight,ā Riggs told MMA Fighting. āI talked to Dave Feldman and asked him why he said that and he said someone told him that. Well, shouldnāt you ask me?
āNo, but this isnāt my last fight. Iām very close to being done, but thereās a few things in my career that I [want to do], have a couple of more fights, and then Iām done. Three [more fights, tops.ā
In his most recent appearance, Riggs challenged Lorenzo Hunt for the BKFC middleweight title at BKFC 24 in April where Hunt retained with a second-round stoppage. Riggs called the performance āembarrassing,ā and wouldnāt allow himself to move on to the next chapter of his life after a loss like that.
For this training camp, Riggs returned to where it all started for him in Phoenix, returning to The MMA Lab. Working with a room full of professional fighters that would push him is something that he needed, and hasnāt had in two years.
āJeremy Horn once told me that if you train, and run a gym constantly, one is going to hurt ā either your career, or training people at the gym,ā Riggs said. āI wasnāt able to do both. When I would train for a fight, I would make sure Iām in shape, I would get down my weight, but I wouldnāt work [hard enough on my skills].
āMy last fight, I literally didnāt spar one time. One of my students held pads for me, and we were in the process of moving gyms, so all I was doing was hitting the speed bag. I would swim, hit pads, and hit the speed bag, and thatās f****** it. I thought my experience and being good would just carry me through, and it did for the most part, and after the last fight and all of the mental things I went through, and not having a strong camp, it makes me question myself even more.
āSo I went back to Phoenix, went back to The MMA Lab, where at the time, I was the first person from Arizona to make it to the UFC, and itās been a great feeling training with good guys, and being in an actual camp.ā
As far as where Riggs would like to go moving forward, he says a fight with Jake Paul would be something heād love to check off the list. Paul is scheduled to face Anderson Silva on Oct. 29 in Glendale, Ariz., and Riggs reacted to the matchmaking, but also revealed that he had past conversations about facing the undefeated boxer early on in Paulās career.
āI think itās an interesting fight,ā Riggs explained. āIāve [actually] so many talks because someone that Iāve worked with for a long time knows his manager personally, and we talked about fighting Jake before he fought Ben Askren. Heās gotten better as a boxer for sure, but I would love to fight him. Jake knocking out Tyron Woodleyā¦Tyron had an overhand right and thatās it. [Woodley] was athletic, but he didnāt have much to offer with being a boxer.
āIf he beats Anderson Silva, even at Andersonās age, that would be impressive. But Iād fight that guy for f****** free. I remember he came to Rampageās gym with a video crew before he got into boxing and I was beating on him, but it was like a funny thing. Now he considers himself a real f****** fighter. Heās gotten better, Iāll give him that, but itās crazy. Iāve got money, but heās got way more money than me. Heās probably made f****** 10 times as much as I have in fighting in probably 1/10th of the time. That kind of makes me bitter.ā
Joe started very young in NHB.
I think being so young it was hard for a few years to figure out what weight he was going to be and what weight he should fight at.
Always enjoyed his take on things.
Hart is pretty, Sigala is sexy and what a set of biggins!!
Seeing Sigala walk out with them biggins every weigh in like.
Go Joe!
Why is the āBKFC 29 live prelimsā a past Sigala fight? Weird.
I know itās an 8 fight card but this is weird?