Friday night at BFL 67 in Vancouver, B.C. marked yet another successful title defense for the reigning champions.
In the headlining bout, Caio Machado (now 5-1-1) secured a first-round TKO against Unified MMA heavyweight champion Christian Larsen (now 5-2), extending his reign as BFL heavyweight titleholder.
The opening round didn't go smoothly for Machado. He found himself in deep water after absorbing several heavy blows from the significantly larger Larsen, but managed to weather the storm and fire back with a crisp left hook that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas.
"To be honest, that was the most punishing strike I've absorbed throughout my entire career," Machado told MMA Empire during post-fight interviews.
"It was a quality shot, and while I've always had a solid chin, it was inevitable that I'd eventually take one like that. Once it landed, concern set in—I had to adjust my movement and spacing. That punch never truly derailed my performance; I stayed fully engaged throughout the entire contest. I just recognized the need to exercise extra caution and maintain better distance."
Heading into fight week, Machado and Larsen stood among the top-ranked heavyweights in Canada outside of the UFC.
Ahead of the UFC, Machado expressed confidence in his readiness to compete at the highest level and identified a Canadian UFC roster competitor he'd love to face.
"I'm demanding a shot at the UFC. I feel I've established myself on the regional circuit. The sole defeat on my record came against Dustin Joynson, a premier Canadian heavyweight who's currently competing in ONE Championship," Machado explained.
"This victory serves as proof that I'm Canada's top heavyweight and that I deserve an opportunity. That's precisely why I sought out Chris Larsen—because I understood whichever fighter emerged victorious would earn a call-up. Who knows? Perhaps Larsen's training partner, Tanner Boser, could provide an interesting matchup. If he's looking to avenge his buddy, I'm ready."
In the co-main event, Dejan Kajic (now 13-7-2) proved once again that age is merely a number, capturing the first-round TKO of undefeated rising talent Kyran Cameron (now 5-1) and walking away with the BFL welterweight belt.
Kajic stressed that patience and precise timing remain cornerstones of his strategy, and he put both to excellent use during last night's bout.
“As I always say, I just take my time,” Kajic explained. “I study the opponent, then I set them up with a hand looping around the guard—the loose right hand—and once I noticed him adjusting to that, I dropped the next shot clean down the center.”
“I lined it up perfectly, spotted the gap, and didn't miss. The rest was plain sailing. After that, I did what I know how to do best: bring fights to an end.”
Now 36, the window appears to be open for Kajic to push toward a major organization—whether that's the UFC, Bellator, One Championship, or the PFL.
Kajic feels he's ticked every box needed to earn that big promotion's attention; at this stage, it simply comes down to patience.
“I hope I'm not coming off as arrogant, but you can't argue with someone who keeps winning. You have to rack up victories and finish bouts, and that's precisely what I've been doing,” Kajic added.
“I believe I've positioned myself well for that phone call, but you can't force it. I don't start building expectations until they actually pick up the phone.”
Heading into fight night, the lightweight clash between Zack Powell (now 4-1) and Dario Sinagoga (now 5-0) had generated more buzz than nearly any other bout on the card.
Despite Powell spending most of the contest dominating from the top position, the judges ruled in Sinagoga's favor on a split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28), a verdict that ignited widespread debate in the aftermath.
Powell and his corner are preparing to submit an appeal of the decision, and Powell remarked that the outcome doesn't reflect well on the B.C. Athletic Commission.
"Disgust" is the one word running through Zack Powell's head about what transpired last night. He firmly feels the B.C. Athletic Commission showed a serious lack of integrity during the evening. Fighters who had traveled from away were treated terribly throughout every single part of the event, and Powell called his own bout's judging the final straw. "My team will be filing an appeal and pushing forward with an investigation," Powell told MMA Empire.
"It's frustrating because the commission is turning the BFL into a laughingstock across Canada right now. An organization might claim they're powerless to intervene, but their actions are damaging the promotion's reputation and how seriously people in Canada's combat sports scene take them. Supporting this appeal would be the smartest move for the promotion itself, as well as anyone with genuine integrity toward the sport. Unless we raise our voices, corruption in this sport will keep going unchecked."
Elsewhere on the card, Ivan Hryshcuk, Justin Doege, Gio Platon, Nicolas Ouellet, Taylor Christopher, Jonathan Broad, Mike McAloon, and Jackie Maclean all walked away with wins, while Bryce Gougeon and Stuart Deleurme clashed in a majority draw.
