A Squamish mixed martial artist is now the amateur featherweight champion of Battlefield Fight League.
Gwyn Berry claimed his seat on top in a rematch against Dakota Angel on Sept. 21 during BFL 63. The win marks the third time Berry has captured an amateur title belt in his career.
"I'm very obviously excited," said the 25-year-old, of his win.
"I'm not surprised at all because I've been working so hard."
It was a win that had a theatrical finish, to say the least.
Seventeen seconds into the third round, after sneaking a couple of jabs towards his opponent, Berry landed a hard right kick to Angel's head.
Leading up to that big hit, Berry said that his coach told him to fire off straight punches and circle his opponent.
"As I'm circling to my left, my opponent is almost forced to move to his left, so that kind of leads him to walk into a strike on that side," he said.
And that's what happened. His opponent immediately went down.
"That's what set me up for the kick," Berry said. "It's like two cars going head-to-head. So he walked right into it."
Berry said that since it was a rematch, he knew what to expect.
He had previously defeated Angel in June via a split decision.
Berry said judging from the previous match, that he anticipated Angel to try and close the distance between the two of them.
It was a prediction that came true, he said.
"First round, he just kind of comes right at me," said Berry.
"In my head I knew this was going to happen. The first couple rounds were going to be kind of like a dirty fight, like close-in."
Angel pinned him against the cage, he said.
Berry said that his strategy was to let Angel keep doing that and wear himself out, as it takes a lot of energy.
In the second round, Angel did the same thing, but Berry said he could feel his opponent start to lose steam.
He said he pushed Angel out of the clinch and started working him with jabs and kicks.
"Picking him apart slowly," said Berry.
He said that for the next step, he wants to make it to the big leagues.
Berry works as a carpenter, but hopes to make it as a professional fighter in the future. He'll be continuing to train and hopes to schedule another fight in the coming months.
