There was a little bit of everything at BFL 61.
From several first-round finishes to three-round wars, everyone in attendance at the Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam, B.C., and those watching online got their money’s worth.
In the main event, Jared Revel (now 9-2) successfully defended his BFL middleweight title by majority decision in a tight five-round battle with Collin Hart (now 6-4-1).
Having injured his foot in the first round, Revel was forced to dig deep, and he said it showed his ability to battle through adversity and still come out on top.
“Collin was a great opponent; it was a great test for me. It was a war,” said Revel in an interview.
“It kind of showed I had the grit and the ability to push through in those championship rounds, and come through with the victory. That was the biggest moral from the win for me.”
The victory marked Revel’s fourth straight and eighth in his last nine fights, on top of successfully defending his title for the first time.
With his history of first-round finishes and recent run of wins, Revel could be in prime position to receive a call from one of the bigger promotions. He said he plans on healing up, and seeing what options come his way during that time.
“I’m going to heal up, talk with my coaches, talk with some management, and see if there’s a bigger platform for me to go to,” said Revel.
“I’m just going to take whatever opportunity comes and go from there. Being 9-2 now, I do feel I have a pretty good resume. I usually finish fights; obviously this one was a bit of a war, but it shows I can do both and I’m not just a one-trick pony.”
Double Champ
Dejan Kajic (11-7-2, 1 NC) became the new 175-pound BFL champion after knocking out Eric McConico Jr. (now 4-1-1) midway through the first round.
For the majority of the first two minutes, Kajic stayed patient, not throwing many strikes, until he found the opening he was looking for.
“I’m always a slow starter; I analyze. I try to get as much info off my opponent with timing, footwork, angles, and weight distribution,” said Kajic in his in-cage interview.
“Caleb (Starnes) added some new boxing angles for me that worked really well. He showed me how to setup a guy and walk him into my right hand.”
The Man to Beat
Nicolas Ouellet (now 2-0) continued his impressive start to his young amateur career, submitting the more-experienced Manny Fernandez (now 3-3) in their bout for the BFL amateur lightweight title.
Coming off an impressive first round submission win over Matt Lepper in his amateur debut, Ouellet proved it was no one-off, also submitting Fernandez in the first round via inverted triangle.
“It went as good as I could’ve imagined. It felt perfect for me,” said Ouellet in an interview.
“The fight went exactly how I thought it would. He shot, like I thought he would, ended up going to the ground, and got the finish just the way I thought I would.”
Now just two fights into his amateur career and already a BFL champion, Ouellet is now the one to beat in the BFL amateur lightweight division.
He said it felt amazing to get the win, but was at a loss for words when describing what the belt means to him.
“I’m still trying to grasp the whole feeling of this belt,” said Ouellet.
“It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid, so it’s surreal right now.”
In other MMA action, Dario Sinagoga, Ali Wasuk, Gwyn Berry, Kenny Pope, Niko Chan, and Samuel Ramsay all left BFL 61 with victories.
Kentauro Miyachi, Jimmy Nguyen, Freddie Gillespie, Jess Frman, and Ian Lacovitti were also victorious in kickboxing action to start the event off.
