Pearl Gonzalez to debut at BKFC 18

Pearl Gonzalez, who makes her BKFC debut in June, ahead of her fight against Cynthia Calvillo at UFC 210. | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The debut of Pearl Gonzalez and the return of Britain…


Pearl Gonzalez, who makes her BKFC debut in June, ahead of her fight against Cynthia Calvillo at UFC 210.
Pearl Gonzalez, who makes her BKFC debut in June, ahead of her fight against Cynthia Calvillo at UFC 210. | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The debut of Pearl Gonzalez and the return of Britain Hart is set. 

The fight announcements keep coming for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) as two more women’s fights have been added to upcoming events in June and July.

Pearl Gonzalez will be making her promotional debut at BKFC 18, where she meets Charisa Sigala on June 26. The fight was announced on Tuesday afternoon by BKFC officials via social media.

The former UFC and Invicta FC fighter signed a multi-fight deal with BKFC in April of this year and was originally expected to fight in Miami on an event scheduled for May 21. However, that was changed for a later date.

Gonzalez has not competed since February 2020 when she lost a unanimous decision to Miranda Maverick at Invicta FC 39: Frey vs. Cummins 2. Her return to the Invicta FC cage was supposed to be against Erin Blanchfield for the then-vacant flyweight title at Invicta FC 43: King vs. Harrison, but Gonzalez was forced to withdraw after contracting COVID-19.

Sigala gets her second assignment in the BKFC ring after making her promotional debut at BKFC: KnuckleMania in February against Taylor Starling. Sigala and Starling served as the opener of the main card where they put on quite the show for the better part of five rounds. Sigala was defeated by way of unanimous decision, but it was certainly a great introduction to “The Bare Knuckle Sweetheart”.

The other fight announcement that was made sees the return of Britain Hart set. Hart, who bested Paige VanZant in the main event of the aforementioned BKFC: KnuckleMania, will fight Jenny Savage at BKFC 19 on July 23. BKFC president Dave Feldman confirmed the fight in an interview with Damon Martin of MMA Fighting.

The groundwork for the fight between Hart and Savage was already laid at the pay-per-view event, where the latter confronted the former just minutes after her win over VanZant. After nearly coming to blows with Savage, Hart was able to compose herself and deliver one of the most memorable post-fight interviews in recent memory. She looks to extend her win streak in bare-knuckle fighting to three straight with a win over Savage.

Savage has fought just once in BKFC and earned a second-round stoppage over Sheena Brandenburg at BKFC 15.