To some, it may seem like a surprise that Britain Beltran is challenging for the BKFC women’s flyweight title. But for the 32-year-old contender, it’s simply always been her destiny.
“It sounds so silly, but I really never thought I was mediocre, average,” Beltran told MMA Junkie. “I always knew that I was going to be great in this sport, and you know, this is where I was meant to be. I already had that hunger from Day 1.”
Unfortunately for Beltran (formerly Britain Hart), the driving hunger didn’t translate to immediate success. Beginning her career in traditional boxing, she picked up a couple of quick wins to start her run before sloshing through a stretch of seven bouts that saw her go just 1-3-3. She also went 0-2 in bare-knuckle competition during that time.
While she realizes that stretch doesn’t look great on paper, Beltran said it provided her with some very valuable lessons about what takes place both in and out of the ring.
“I kind of realized the politics of boxing,” Beltran said. “Like, hey, I didn’t come from money. I don’t have sponsors. I’m going to these people’s hometowns. I’m being treated as a journeyman.
“A lot of the draws and the losses I have, I mean, I know everyone says that they feel like they won, but I really feel like I won those, and I got robbed due to the politics. But in my heart, I knew that it would get better. One day I would make my performances completely convincing. The judges aren’t going to be able to rob me anymore.”
‘It was completely like love’
Hart was undeterred. She had a passion and was intent on making it work. Unfortunately, she also had bills to pay, leaving her with the difficult decision of taking a break from competing and simply working to get some money in her account.
“I went back to Virginia and just went back to bartending and was like, boxing is going to have to wait because COVID is so crazy right now,’ and then that’s when I got the bare-knuckle call,” Beltran said. “It was completely like love, you know – exactly like love. When you go looking for it, you can’t find it, and then when you stop looking for it, it just pops up. It was exactly like that because I stopped – you know, I went on this crazy goose hunt trying to find where I belong. I stayed in Las Vegas for a few months. I was in Philly. I was in Florida, and then finally just after staying at rock bottom for so long, I was like, ‘I’ve just got to make money first. I can’t keep doing this to myself,’ and then the bare-knuckle fight happened. It was like on two weeks’ notice.”
At BKFC 14 in November 2020, Beltran scored a fourth-round stoppage over Randine Eckholm. That kicked off a torrid 2021 campaign that saw her go 3-0, including wins over UFC notables Paige VanZant and Pearl Gonzalez, quickly elevating Beltran from the ranks of journeyman to legit title contender.
Still, while her profile has risen along the way, Beltran isn’t completely convinced she’s necessarily been given the full amount of respect she believes she’s earned.
“I got paid,” Beltran said. “I felt so accomplished, but then on social media, it was like, ‘That girl sucks.’ You know, everyone put Paige down and was really mean to her and was like, ‘That’s why she got kicked out UFC. That’s why she’s garbage,’ so it was kind of like they were taking that away from me, like I beat a nobody when really, you know, Paige has a lot of money, a lot of backing, a lot of support. She’s at a top-notch gym. She really put all that she had into that fight. I just happened to be the better fighter, you know? Like, we both trained our asses off for that. Sometimes you’re better, and I felt like some people kind of downed me on that.
“Then with the Pearl fight, it really hurt my feelings because I was like, ‘Damn, people thought that she got robbed,’ and I went back and watched the fight. I mean, I probably watched it more than anybody – like millions of times to see, ‘What are these people looking at?’ Like, I feel like I won clear as day, so to hear people say that, you know, I was given that win is just absurd.”
For someone who started from the absolute bottom, Beltran was thrilled to put together a 4-0 mark under the BKFC banner and to take out a few recognizable names on the way. Yet she felt as though critics were minimizing her success.
“I wish somebody would give me an easy pass, but trust me, that is not the case,” Beltran said. “I felt like I earned my wins, so I guess I’d say I have a chip on my shoulder. It’s like, ‘Man, what do I got to do to be good enough for these people?’ Like, what do I have to do? Maybe winning a belt will solve all this.”
Title fight is about two things
Beltran will have that chance on Saturday when she faces Christine Ferea at “BKFC: KnuckleMania 2” at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The event streams on the BKTV app, and the matchup between Beltran and Ferea has plenty of heat leading into it, with the two previously meeting back in 2019. Ferea won that fight due to a doctor’s stoppage, and she hasn’t had too many kind words about Beltran in the time since.
Beltran said there’s quite a bit more to the story that has played out behind the scenes, but she’d prefer to leave it there for the time being.
“There’s some other things that are super personal,” Beltran said. “I’m going to kind of keep them private. I’m thinking about letting them out after the fight, though, and kind of let it be known because I think it’s better that way. She thinks that she’s, you know, mentally f*cking me up, but really, it’s like, I’m over here laughing because I’m five steps ahead of her. She’s up to some things that are wild. I wish I could talk about them right now, but I don’t think it’s the right time and place.
“All the personal sh*t that me and her have gone through over the years, and a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, don’t make it personal. Don’t let it get in your head.’ But it’s like, this is something that I love and my dream and that I gave up everything for, so how is it not personal? So for me, you know, this does have two meanings. It definitely has dual meanings with this fight. It’s about the title and being respected in the fight community and my peers and just around the world, and it is also very meaningful to squash this personal beef between me and her.”
Will life change for Beltran following Saturday’s event? That certainly remains to be seen. But she believes that a victory would go a long way towards some recognition for the work she’s put in behind the scenes for years. But more than that, Beltran wants to provide an example for others who find themselves in less-than-ideal scenarios.
“People fight a lot of different battles that aren’t in the ring, whether it’s cancer, whether it’s being stuck in the system, foster care, having their children taken away, drugs, alcohol – like, fighting is so much different than what we think,” Beltran said. “Sometimes when I complain about being robbed in a boxing match, I can complain about that, but then you hear someone who says both their kids are in jail, and one’s in a rehab program, and now they are stuck being a mom to a 6-year-old again because they have to watch their grandkids. It’s like, damn, you know, that puts things in perspective that way, and so I just want to be known as inspiration as a fighter.
“People already hate on me for having mediocre skills and mediocre talent, which, I mean, that sucks that they feel that way. But hey, it’s not luck. One or two wins in a row says something, but five wins in a row? That’s more than just luck, so I’ve got skills as a fighter in the ring and outside of the ring. I just feel really loved right now, so I want to say thank you to everyone who does that because again, my story four or five years ago, that was not the case.”
