LONDON -- Already a holder of the welterweight title, England's Terry Brazier has now added a second BAMMA world title to his collection.
Brazier [10-1] defeated Rhys McKee [7-2] via unanimous decision [30-27, 30-25, 30-25] to become the new lightweight champion in the main event bout Thursday night at York Hall, which was promoted by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts.
It was for the most part a dominant performance by Brazier who had nothing but respect and admiration for his opponent.
"He was definitely, by far, the best fighter I've fought," Brazier, 31, said.
"I definitely underestimated him. I thought he was going to be a lot weaker than he was. I thought I'd do him in the first. He's a tough guy, great guy as well, a great athlete. No s--- talking. He was nodding in between the rounds, shaking hands, he's a good lad."
Brazier had to come down from his usual weight class of 170lbs to 155lbs in order to make the fight. It was a big jump, and it's something the Brit will have to work on more if he's to continue fighting at lightweight.
"I've just come down from welterweight," Brazier explained. "This camp has been about cutting weight, not skills and drills. It was hard, man. I love my food, I'm a foodie so no restaurants for the last six weeks. Very little carbs and a lot of mood swings. It was my first time cutting to lightweight so now I know what to expect, I'll come back stronger, better and fitter next time."
Brazier hopes with this win and becoming a BAMMA champ-champ, it will propel him to the big time, although he didn't completely rule out another fight with the British promotion under the right circumstances.
"My last three fights have all been for titles," Brazier said. "Walter Gahadza, Alex Lohore and now Reese. I don't want to be a gatekeeper. I'm not going to stick around and just fight off the other lightweights.
"If someone else takes the contract, Norman Parke, or someone like that and they make it worthwhile and it's a good fight, good match up, good money then I'll stick around. But I'm 31 years old and I always want to be progressing. I'm open to ideas but I always want to move forward. That was my 11th fight and my 10th pro win, so we're ready for the big time."
It's clear that by the 'big time', Brazier meant the Ultimate Fighting Championship and he even called out current UFC fighter Marc Diakiese, who was a former BAMMA lightweight champion before being signed in the sport in 2016.
"This is just the start," Brazier added. "There's a big leap from being at the top of the British scene and then the bottom of say, the UFC, there's a big gap.
"Marc Diakiese, come and have your belt back bro and I'll take your contract. I'll fight you for your contract. Any of them UK fighters that are in the UFC, I'll fight. I'll fight anyone, I don't care, I'm up for a challenge. Send me the contract, I'm good to go."
Full results
Main card: Terry Brazier def. Rhys McKee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-25) for the BAMMA world lightweight championship.
Anthony Taylor def. Mike Hales via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-26, 29-26).
Lukasz Parobiec vs. Chi Lewis-Parry declared a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28).
Prelims: John Nicholls def. David Khalsa via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:06 of R2.
Elliott Hoye def. Luke Shanks via TKO (strikes) at 1:57 of R3.
Jefferson George def. James Reedman via unanimous decision Kingsley Crawford def. Akonne Wanliss via unanimous decision.