Max Headroom 
Bec Rawlings is hoping to stay more active in 2025 after a dominant showcase with a lopsided win over Taylor Starling at BKFC KnuckleMania 5 on Saturday night.
The bare-knuckle veteran looked better than ever as she busted up Starling with a brutal series of right hands throughout the five-round fight. Rawlings scored an early knockdown, but to her credit, Starling displayed her signature toughness to survive to the final bell.
Still, Rawlings was dazzling in her performance as she took out another former title contender and now she just hopes that BKFC keeps her busier than she’s been over the past year.
“I fought all around the world on the biggest stages and this by far beats every one of them,” Rawlings shouted to the Philadelphia crowd. “This is f*cking amazing. I don’t like being sidelined for a year. I’m f*cking crazy. I need to fight.”
A brief feeling out process eventually gave way to Starling charging forward with a barrage of punches, but she got caught with a nasty counter from Rawlings that dropped her to the canvas. Starling beat the 10 count, but she was clearly rattled from the damage done with blood starting to pour out of her nose.
Rawlings stayed on the attack to look for the kill before delivering a nasty right hand that snapped Sterling’s head back and the grimace on her face told the whole story. The Aussie then followed that up with a straight left that mashed Starling in the face but she stayed upright and continued throwing back at the UFC veteran.
While Starling was still winging punches, Rawlings was connecting with the much cleaner blows including a right hand that continuously found a home on her opponent’s chin. By the end of the third round, Rawlings had a little bit of blood dripping down her face as well but Starling was bruised up and definitely looking worse for wear.
Rawlings was consistently finding a way to slip through Starling’s defense as swelling under her right eye really started to balloon up.
Just before the fifth round started, Starling’s coaches told her it was knockout or bust because she was losing the figh,t but she just couldn’t find a home for her best punches. Instead, it was Rawlings that kept popping her with that same right hand that seemingly couldn’t miss.
The fight came to a close with Starling’s face looking like she just went five rounds with a cheese grater while Rawlings began her celebration.
Following a tough run of losses, Rawlings bounce back in a big way on Saturday with her win over Starling and now she’ll likely look to jump back into the deep end of the flyweight division where Christine Ferea still rules as champion.
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