April 29th brought about Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s first true pay-per-view event on FITE TV and through the BKFC app. With the other previous fight nights and numbered events being free with a subscription to their app, number 41 was a special night for the promotion. A stacked fight card with UFC veterans like Mike Perry, who took on and quickly defeated former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold gave the fans their money’s worth.
With other UFC names like Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Connor McGregor in attendance, people took notice. When McGregor entered to face off with Perry in the right, he snagged a title from current BKFC champ Lorenzo Hunt to make his arrival unique.
Talking with MMA Fighting, BKFC President David Feldman talked about him showing up. “He got in the ring and one of his statements, he said, ‘I didn’t even fight for this promotion yet and I already have their belt,’ so that was pretty cool too. It was awesome. We worked so hard. Nothing was gifted to us. We climbed every bit of the way that we got here, and I’m not saying that we’re at the top yet, we’re far from the top, but everybody — and I mean everybody — in combat sports was talking about us this week.”
Feldman isn’t joking around either. If you have any social media interaction with combat sports, odds are someone was talking about BKFC and that being the place to be. While many early fighters on the card are criminally underpaid, the sport is growing exponentially. As more and more state athletic commissions are created, and older ones are warming up to the idea of dropping the gloves, the sky is the limit for the company.
Feldman sees the writing on the wall, and with his push to have an average of two events per month in 2023, he is climbing towards that brass ring but keeping humble while doing it. “I’m never arrogant, not at all, but I think that we really parked into the No. 2 spot in combat sports right now.”
