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

"Rowdy" Bec Rawlings is back and better than ever.

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.

Rawlings Talks KnuckleMania Win Over Starling

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

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."

Rawlings continued.

"Not everyone can get in there and get that gut check and put on a show like that. So, yeah, we have really a lot of respect for each other."

THE LADIES DELIVERED! @RowdyBec gets the decision dub over Starling!#KnuckleManiaV | Live NOW | Sign-up at https://t.co/FKV4378mdH pic.twitter.com/lqaWGnq7qu
— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) January 26, 2025

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]."

Rawlings Says She's An 'OG Of This S***'

Fast forward to 2025 and Rawlings is one-third of a massive tripleheader, a record-breaking event at KnuckleMania V in Philly: 17,762 fans in attendance.

"To see how big bareknuckle has grown and to know that I have had a part in that, I was the first big kind of fighter that was willing to take a risk on the company. Christine Ferea said, 'Make sure you tell people that you were the OG,' and she wasn't even gonna give [BKFC] a shot until she saw I was signed. She's like, 'Oh, well she's doing it. It must be f****** legit.' And that made me feel really good."

"I think I'd like a little bit of respect," Rawlings added. "I'm a f****** OG of this s***. I've earned some respect."

Prior to her BKFC entrance, Bec Rawlings made her pro MMA debut back in 2012. Rawling has 17 fights in MMA, 7 of which took place in the UFC Octagon.

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