Christine Ferea believes Taylor Starling’s corner let her down.
In the main event of BKFC 28 this past Saturday, Ferea overwhelmed Starling en route to a 47-second TKO victory to retain her flyweight title. Starling clearly heard her telling her coaches she couldn’t handle the knockdown. However, Ferea won the main event of BKFC [********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************.
While Ferea celebrates the win, Starling has dealt with a lot of backlash — some of which could’ve been avoided in the champ’s eyes.
” I’m really upset about her side,” Ferea said to MMA Fighting On Heck of a Morning. “I’m very upset. If I’m a coach, and my fighter is saying, ‘I’m done, I can’t,’ the way she was doing that, they should’ve stopped it. They are there to protect her and they didn’t protect her.
“It made it even worse for her because she had to give up twice, when it could’ve just been one time. It’s not clear what she felt in the fight or how many hits she received. I think that it was irresponsible for her side to handle that situation [in the future].”
.
Dan Miragliotta served as referee and stopped Starling’s surrender. When asked if Miragliotta shared any of the blame, Ferea explains why he doesn’t.
“He did not see her. He just noticed her speaking to her corner,” Ferea stated. Her back was turned. Dan is extremely competent at his job and she was turned around. They clearly understood what she meant. Then they said: “Get back there .’
.”
“And I give her props, she turned around even though she didn’t want to. I do give a lot of props to her, she stepped up when nobody else would step up. She ditched out on another high-profile fight just to prove herself. Sometimes, you need to be able to take those difficult lessons .”
On Wednesday, Starling took to social media and poured her heart out in regards to how she has been treated since the fight — explaining how she’s been “chewed up and spit out,” and have had close people in her life turn their backs on her.
Ferea has been in situations in the past where fans have bombarded her with negativity during her fighting career and she feels for her most recent opponent. The 39-year-old believes Starling can get back to the form that led her to a title shot, but also understands that the weight of the situation can lead to things going one of two ways.
“Of course [I feel bad for her],” Ferea explained. “I know because you should see the comments under mine, but I’ve been dealing with this my whole career. You can bash me for all you want, but it’s so [ready for it], that I have been dealing with this my entire career.
“And that’s what I told her, it doesn’t matter what these people say. We’re entertainers and are in there fighting each other, so some fans are hateful. They want to see violence. Different types of fans exist. Some appreciate violence, while others just like to gossip about us. We need to be able to see that. This is a difficult lesson she’s having to learn on an enormous platform early in her career.
“Something like this is either going to make or break you, and I don’t think she’s the type where it’s going to break her.”
