Joey Beltran’s run as a fighter with BKFC has come to an end.
The former heavyweight champion, who has now suffered three losses in a row including back-to-back knockouts, will no longer compete for the bare-knuckle promotion, though there are plans in motion to continue working with the veteran fighter in another capacity.
“From a fighting perspective with BKFC, Joey Beltran is done as a fighter with us,” BKFC President Dave Feldman told MMA Fighting. “I’m hoping he’s done as a fighter anywhere around the world.
“He’s a great guy, had a great run. But like I’ve said, father time catches up with you at some point, and he suffered a few knockouts in a row, and it’s something we don’t want to see happen anymore. So he’s definitely not going to fight for our organization anymore.”
Beltran was a mainstay with BKFC since the promotion first launched in 2018 where he competed on the inaugural card earning a split decision win over Tony Lopez.
The UFC veteran eventually went on to claim the BKFC heavyweight title with a win over Chase Sherman in 2019. He defended the belt twice with wins over Marcel Stamps and Sam Shewmaker.
Unfortunately, Beltran’s win streak came to an end with a unanimous decision loss to Arnold Adams. He then lost in a pair of brutal knockouts to Frank Tate and Houston Alexander.
While Feldman says that Beltran will no longer compete in BKFC as a fighter, he wants to continue working with “The Mexecutioner” in an ambassador role moving forward. Beltran’s wife, Britain Hart-Beltran, also currently serves as the BKFC strawweight champion.
“Being a guy that started with us and had the best fight of the night on that BKFC 1 [card], and all the great wars that he gave us, he will be a part of the organization recruiting fighters, helping to train some of the guys, maybe even doing some other things with BKFC,” Feldman revealed.
“He’s a great guy, we really, really like him here. He always came and fought his heart out, and he did everything he could for the organization. So he will definitely be a part of the organization, but he will not be fighting for us anymore.”
Ol Skool Hespek
Never cared for the guy. Good of them to give him an “office job”
I actually don’t remember alot about Joey.
I might have seen him in KOTC.
KOTC offered massive deals for cheap on their sets of DVD’s.
That ring girl though
I remember when he got a huge comeback win in the ufc and then he got smoked in various promotions he got koed bad by rampage and went to bk his wife looks decent though hope he has a good retirement
Word
Always loved the Mexicutioner
I always thought he looked soft and moved really fidgety. It was hard to enjoy watching him fight.