Austin Trout retained his welterweight title on April 4 when he faced Carlos Trinidad-Snake in the main event of BKFC 71 at Dubai Tennis Stadium. There was no winner determined after five rounds, and an extra round was applied. After all, two judges scored the six-round fight 57-56 and 58-55 in favor of the champion, while one judge scored it 58-55 for the challenger.
On his way to victory by split decision, Trout suffered a knockdown in the opening round. With the victory, the native of El Paso, TX improved to 4-0 and made the second successful defense of his welterweight belt.
Carlos Trinidad-Snake of Omaha, NE dropped to 6-1 and suffered his first defeat.
“I expected [a tough fight], but I didn’t think he was going to do it,” Austin Trout said. “Shoutout to Carlos, man. He came and fought his [expletive] off. He had a good game plan and made me change my game plan. All respect to him, but I’m still here. I’m still the Champion.”
Britain Hart defeats Tai Emery to retain title
In the co-main event, Britain Hart made the fourth successful defense of her strawweight, scoring a unanimous decision against Tai Emery. After five rounds, the scores were 48-47, 48-47, and 50-45. Hart of Layton, UT improved to 10-3. Emery of Australia dropped to 2-2.
“I’m the best. I did it. I’ve proven it, and I’ve earned it,” Britain Hart said. “I haven’t asked for anything; I’ve earned what I’ve got. I want to earn your respect and love. That’s why I’m here. I’m here for a reason!”
In other BKFC 71 Dubai action
Among other BKFC 71 results, Jonny Tello (3-2) of Canada defeated Sabah Homasi (1-1) of New Brunswick, NJ by unanimous decision at middleweight. The scores were 48-45, 48-45, and 47-46.
Brazilian heavyweight Geronimo Dos Santos (1-0) scored a big KO against former UFC fighter Aleksey Oleinik (0-1) with a right hand. The time was 1:49 into the first round.
Los Angeles-based Adel Altamimi (1-0) of Iraq successfully debuted in the BKFC, dropping David Mora (1-1) of Spain three times en route to a KO victory. The welterweight bout ended at 1:28 into the third round.
Ahmed Khairy (1-0) of Egypt floored Brazil’s Leandro Martins (0-1) three times and took the victory by TKO. The lightweight bout was stopped by the doctor at 1:01 into the third round.
Bulgarian middleweight Mladen Iliev (2-0) knocked out debuting Aboubkeur Houari (0-1) of Algeria at 23 seconds into the second round. Mahamed Aly (1-0) of Egypt dropped fellow newcomer Jaskaran Singh (0-1) of India twice to claim the win via 59-second TKO at heavyweight.
In the main card opener, Mahmoud Ahmed (2-0) of Egypt took a split decision against Fuad Tarverdi (0-1) of Azerbaijan at bantamweight. The scores were 47-46, 47-46, and 46-47.
Among the BKFC 71 prelims, Elnur Suleymanov (1-0) of Azerbaijan stopped Lucas Sontgen (0-1) of Germany at middleweight. The time was 14 seconds into the second round.
Kicking off the action, Austria-based Islam Sizbulatov (1-0) stopped Leang Cheng (0-1) of Cambodia in 40 seconds of their BKFC debut at lightweight.