Bradley Taylor Claims Inaugural BKFC UK Bantamweight Crown
NXTbets Pro | Published On: August 1, 2026
Bradley Taylor claims
Bradley Taylor left BKFC Fight Night Newcastle with the inaugural BKFC United Kingdom bantamweight championship after a unanimous decision over Lewis “The Leprechaun” Garside. Taylor set the tone in the opening round, when he scored the only knockdown of the night against Garside and forced the fight into his rhythm early. The bout headlined a sold-out card at the Walker Activity Dome in Newcastle, England, and the event streamed live on the BKFC App. The weigh-in coverage for the show included results from 11 bouts, and Taylor’s championship win stood out as the defining result on the night. He entered the fight at 134.6 pounds, while Garside weighed 135 pounds. That narrow gap on the scale did not change the outcome once the bell rang. Taylor did enough across the rounds to secure the decision and become the first fighter to hold the BKFC United Kingdom bantamweight belt. Garside had the experience and the size to make the fight competitive, but Taylor controlled the key moments and took the title in clear fashion.
Lewis Keen earns
Lewis “The Machine” Keen punched his ticket to the next title opportunity on the card, stopping Stew “Tank” Martin at 1:27 of the fourth round. The finish put Keen in line for the next shot at BKFC United Kingdom lightweight champion Jonny Graham and added another important result to a card that kept moving from one decisive moment to the next. Keen’s win came in a fight that gave him time to settle in, then let him close with authority late. Martin pushed the bout deep into the fourth, but Keen ended it before the round could reach the midway point. The card also produced a draw between Harrison Cave and Danny Moir, giving Newcastle one of the few bouts that went the distance without a winner. Cory Chapman delivered one of the more dramatic stoppages of the night, stopping Jack Blair with one second left in the second round after surviving three knockdowns. Those results gave the event a mix of momentum swings, late pressure and sudden finishes, with Keen’s victory carrying the clearest immediate title implication. His stoppage did more than add another mark in the win column. It placed him directly into the conversation for Graham’s belt.
BKFC debuts deliver
BKFC Fight Night Newcastle also gave several fighters their first look under the BKFC banner, and Dylan “The Cramlington Cobra” Fail made the strongest debut of the group with a unanimous decision over Liam Hutchinson. Fail’s win added a local note to the card and gave the Newcastle show another homegrown result to put alongside Taylor’s title victory. James “Sugar Man” Walker, Mickey Nolan, KJ Metcalfe, Harry Bray, Chris Burton and “Savage” Sally McDonald also made their BKFC debuts on the show, giving the card a broad turnover of new names across multiple bouts. The weigh-in notes showed a range of matchups in those fights, including Walker at 246.8 pounds against Barry Boyle at 274.4 pounds, and Burton at 225.6 pounds against Dan Curtin at 258.8 pounds. Sandra Rees and McDonald both weighed 125.4 pounds, another sign that the card mixed established action with fresh entries across the lineup. Newcastle’s sold-out setting gave those debutants a full stage, and the card delivered a spread of finishes, decisions and a draw across the lineup. The night ended with a new champion, a title challenger in waiting and a group of first-time BKFC fighters who left with their names on the record.
