Smyth’s Fourth-Round Knockout Opened Birmingham’s
Liam Smyth knocked out Rafał Witkowski at BKFC 77 on June 28, 2025, at bp pulse LIVE in Birmingham, England. The heavyweight contest ended at 1:56 of the fourth round, giving the event an opening stoppage before its championship main event.
The heavyweight matchup began the preliminary action
Smyth and Witkowski were the first fighters to compete on the Birmingham card. Their assignment took place below the headline meeting between Connor Tierney and Danny Christie for the BKFC UK welterweight championship.
The weigh-in showed a substantial size difference: Smyth registered 234.6 pounds and Witkowski 259.4. Both competed in the heavyweight division rather than the lower weight classes featured elsewhere on the card.
The contest reached the fourth before the decisive knockdown
The bout continued beyond the early rounds before Smyth produced the finishing attack. Witkowski was dropped and stopped with only seconds remaining in the fourth round.
The official outcome was a knockout, so the result did not require a judges’ decision. Smyth secured the opening victory through a completed finish after the contest had developed well beyond its first exchanges.
Further preliminary bouts led into the title program
Kris Trezise defeated Paul O’Sullivan by unanimous decision, while Krzysztof Wisniewski knocked out Thai Tetley in the second round. Those results completed the preliminary portion of the event.
Tierney later retained his UK title with a fourth-round stoppage of Christie. Smyth’s own result belonged to a separate heavyweight matchup, providing the first finish of a Birmingham card that included numerous stoppages across several divisions.
Sources
- BKFC: official event date, division and knockout result
- Fightmag: finishing time and running order
- FightBook MMA: official heavyweight weights
