Taylor Starling and Charisa Sigala Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship
Taylor Starling and Charisa Sigala.
Photo by Phil Lambert / BKFC
  • Taylor Starling, from South Carolina, won by a unanimous decision.
  • Starling beat Sigala in a brutal, bloody, bare-knuckle battle at KnuckleMania in Florida.
  • Earlier in the week, an ESPN presenter downplayed women’s fighting.
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

American fighters Taylor Starling and Charisa Sigala received a standing ovation at the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship: KnuckleMania event Friday in Florida.

The fighters threw more than 500 combined strikes, opening up bloody wounds on each others’ faces, through their grueling, five-round war at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

Starling, from South Carolina, took the decision with two scores of 50-43 and another of 49-44, having knocked Sigala down twice with more powerful punching.

However, Californian Sigala fought through the pain and gave a good account of herself in the latter rounds as she bruised Starling’s eyes and left one brow leaking blood.

Watch one of the knockdowns here:

A post shared by Taylor "Killa Bee" Starling🐝 (@taywstarling)

Taylor Starling
The face of the winner.
Photo by Phil Lambert / BKFC

The featherweight pair fought in the final preliminary bout ahead of the main KnuckleMania card.

Britain Hart out-pointed bare-knuckle first-timer Paige VanZant in the main event of a card that put the spotlight on women's fighting.

A popular ESPN presenter Stephen A. Smith had said earlier in the week that he doesn't like women hitting each other in the face.

His comments were roundly rebuked by the MMA industry with the UFC striker Molly McCann chastizing the comments as backward in a statement to Insider.

Smith better not watch the Starling and Sigala battle.

Read the original article on Insider