Mundell faces Cullen in BKFC 94 title defense in Manchester
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 16, 2026
Mundell title defense
David Mundell puts his BKFC World Middleweight Championship on the line for the fifth time against unbeaten British contender Jack Cullen, and the matchup gives BKFC 94 a clear centerpiece. The title fight is set for AO Arena in Manchester and will stream live on DAZN. Mundell arrives as the defending champion, and Cullen comes in with the kind of unbeaten résumé that makes this a meaningful test for the belt. The pairing brings together a champion and a challenger who has kept his own momentum intact. That is the appeal of the fight. Mundell is trying to hold onto the title again. Cullen is trying to take it from him. The stage is straightforward, and the stakes are high. Bare-knuckle title fights leave little room for drift, and this one has the feel of a bout that will tell plenty about both men. For Mundell, the assignment is about preserving his place at the top of the middleweight division. For Cullen, it is about turning an unbeaten run into a championship breakthrough in one of the sport’s most demanding settings.
Mundell rebound
The fight also carries the weight of Mundell’s last outing, because he entered that February bout with Lorenzo Hunt on an eight-fight winning streak and left it with a setback. Hunt stopped Mundell in the fourth round of their non-title fight at KnuckleMania VI in Philadelphia, and that result reset the conversation around the champion. The loss made the next title defense feel even more important. A champion can absorb one defeat and still remain a force, but the response matters. Mundell now gets that chance against Cullen. The matchup gives him a chance to reassert himself after the Hunt loss and remind the division why he still owns the belt. It also adds another layer to the middleweight picture because the champion’s recent history is now split between an extended run of success and one decisive stoppage defeat. That contrast gives the Cullen fight more edge. Mundell does not enter it untouched by recent events. He enters it after a loss that ended a long winning run and after enough time to measure how he wants the next chapter to look. The result against Hunt sits in the background, and the next step starts with Cullen.
Mundell rematch
Mundell has made clear that he views Cullen as a strong matchup and sees this fight as more than a routine defense. He has also said bare-knuckle fighting is different from boxing, and that difference shapes how he sees the night ahead. In his view, if he gets the chance to impose himself, he expects to dominate Cullen. That is the tone of the fight from Mundell’s side. He is not treating the challenger as a placeholder opponent. He is treating him as a live test, one he believes he can control. The larger picture also reaches beyond Cullen. Mundell has pointed to a convincing win as the kind of result that could set up a rematch with Hunt, and he expects to beat Hunt decisively if they meet again. That gives the title defense a second layer of meaning. The immediate goal is Cullen. The longer view runs back to Hunt and the loss that interrupted Mundell’s winning streak. A strong performance against Cullen could move Mundell back toward that rematch and put him in position to settle the score on his terms. For now, though, the focus stays on the title defense in Manchester, where Mundell tries to protect his belt, answer the last setback and keep the path to a bigger rematch alive.
