Karl Thompson came out victorious on February 8 when he faced Rob Boardman atop BKFC Fight Night at the Walker Activity Dome in Newcastle, England. The cruiserweight from Sedgefield, England, claimed the win against his opponent from Weston-super-Mare, England, by standing TKO, overcoming a knockdown along the way. The official time was 1:46 into the first round.
With the victory, Thompson improved to 4-0 and landed the vacant BKFC UK title. Boardman dropped to 6-1 and suffered his first defeat in the BKFC.
In the co-main event, Pic Jardine (2-0) defeated newcomer Tony Shields (0-1) by unanimous decision at middleweight. After five rounds, the scores were 49-46, 49-46, and 50-45.
In the co-feature bout, Lewis Keen (4-1) earned a UD against Ryan McCarthy (1-2) at lightweight. All three scores were 50-43.
Among other BKFC Newcastle results, Paul Cook (3-1) stopped Adam Grogan (2-5) in the fourth round at welterweight. Travis Dickinson (1-1) defeated Rowan Gregory (0-1) via second-round TKO at heavyweight. Joe Lister (1-0) eliminated John Ferguson (1-5) in the first round at light heavyweight.
Lewis Garside (1-0) took a unanimous decision against Bartek Kanabey (2-2) at featherweight. Brandon Comby (1-0) won his promotional debut by a unanimous decision against Ryan Carmichael (1-1) at lightweight.
Michael Henderson (1-0) scored a unanimous decision over Liam Hutchinson (0-1) at welterweight. Leigh Cohoon (1-0) TKO’d Kane Wilkinson (0-1) in the third round of their debut at light heavyweight. James Walker (1-0) won a unanimous decision against Jan Sulecki (0-1).
Oskar Smykiel (1-0) defeated fellow debuting Alan Comby (0-1) via first-round TKO at welterweight. In the event opener, Tommy Strydom (4-0) stopped John Spencer (0-4) in the third round at featherweight.