Melanie Shah showed fighting spirit during and after her latest bout.
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship put on a show in Virginia this past weekend and Shah headlined the event alongside strawweight champion Britain Hart.
Shah brought a perfect 2-0 record into the BKFC 51 contest but was overmatched against a woman who already holds a win over former MMA star Paige VanZant.
The champion beat up her opponent for five rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory, defend her title, and give Shah a first taste of defeat in bare-knuckle boxing.
After losing every round on all three judges' scorecards, the British fighter's face was battered, swollen, and bruised - but she still gave a post-fight interview.
As the 41-year-old began to talk it became clear that her teeth had been badly damaged during the fight, although she seemed more interested in assessing her performance than discussing any injuries she may have suffered.
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“I think after the first round, I realized that she was a lot tougher than I was expecting,” Shah told Bareknucklenewstv.
“Although I expected her to be tough, I just expected her to show a bit more tiredness.”
Shah went from brave loser to viral sensation when she began to talk about her love for the sport despite being almost unrecognisable after just 10 minutes of fighting.
She added: “It didn’t go the way I wanted, but I was still happy that I went all the five rounds.
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“Even if I don’t look like it, I enjoyed the whole process. I enjoyed being in the ring and challenging myself.
“If I could fight Brit again, I think what I’d do is — although I fought the way I like to fight — I’d have backed off a little bit more than maybe I should have. I’d probably try to do other things I wouldn’t normally do.”
It seems unlikely she’ll get to rematch Hart anytime soon.
However, Shah will almost certainly be invited back by BKFC for showing true grit and truly embracing a sport that often leaves fighters nursing catastrophic injuries.
First, she’s got to go through what promises to be a long recovery process.
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