It’s fair to say that 2024 was a big year for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). The organization gained in popularity over the past twelve months and is on the precipice of breaking into the mainstream thanks to clever promotion, the recruitment of big names (namely ex-MMA stars) and the investment from one of the biggest sports stars on the planet, Conor McGregor.
BKFC is showing no signs of slowing down as we enter a new year and are scheduled to hold an event on January 25th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadephia. Many notable events have been held at the venue in the past, including the NBA Finals (2001), UFC 133 and the WWE Royal Rumble (2015.) The BKFC and its president, Dave Feldman, have faced various setbacks over the years as the sport struggled to be viewed for its legitimacy, so to hold their next major event in the home of the Philadelphia 76ers is a big deal.
Feldman told Ariel Helwani that he fully expects the event to break both the attendance record and gate record for combat sports events at the venue, some achievement given that the sport was relatively unheard of just a couple of years ago. Over 3000 tickets were sold on the first day of the event going on sale, and the organization is currently on track to sell well over 17,000 tickets as fans clamour to see their hometown, Eddie Alvarez, in action against Jeremy Stephens.
BKFC has been in business for six years, and during that period, they tried to host an event in Philly nine times but were met with rejection on each occasion. They struggled with being accepted by regulators, commissions and the general public, much like the UFC in their early days. The barriers and obstacles both organizations faced while striving to become accepted into the mainstream have their parallels, but nevertheless, they move forward and continue to grow. Dana White and the Ultimate Fighting Championship managed to overcome them, but it wasn’t without a lot of setbacks, as they were millions of dollars in the red before the success of the Ultimate Fighter reality show, which essentially saved the company from ruin.
Dave Feldman and the BKFC recently signed a deal for their events to be broadcast on DAZN, and the decision to go with the network wasn’t just based on finances. The platform has a number of subscribers thanks to its boxing coverage, and although the BKFC has a number of crossover fans from the world of MMA, they wanted to expose the brand to a new set of combat sports fans – an astute decision on the face of it. The organization is forecast to turn a profit in 2025, which would be the first time BKFC has been in the black since its formation back in 2018. As the league continues to grow, there will be more of an emphasis on developing its own stars as opposed to relying solely on those who have made a name for themselves in other forms of combat.
$25 Million Tournament: What We Know So Far
A major way they are going to try to achieve that is by holding a 64-man tournament, which has a total prize pool of a whopping $25 million dollars. Four tryouts will take place around the world: in the US, Spain, Australia, and a venue in the Middle East. The tournament will begin around June, and three nations are currently bidding to host the final. The winner will take home a whopping $15 million in prize money, with small sums distributed to fighters who exit in the early rounds – the remaining $10 million will predominately be split between the fighters that make the final eight.
If any fighters reading this are interested in taking part, keep an eye on BKFC’s website and social media channels, as Feldman revealed to Ariel Helwani yesterday that applications should be open the week commencing January 13th. He’s anticipating 20,000 people apply to the lucrative tournament, and after the chosen sixty-four are selected, the ten-event tournament will be held in eight countries across five different continents as they attempt to find out who the ‘Baddest Man On The Planet’ is.
There are a number of details regarding the $25 million tournament that still need to be ironed out, including the broadcast partner. Although DAZN has a deal with BKFC, the terms of their agreement don’t include the upcoming tournament. From Feldman’s comments on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show’, it appears as though he’s selling it to various other broadcasters but ultimately hopes that their current partner, DAZN, agrees to showcase the ten-event tournament.
So, which weight class will the tournament be held? Well, that’s still to be ironed out, but what the BKFC has in mind will surprise many. The bouts in the tournament are expected to be held between 175 – 275lb, and in early rounds, the competitors will be matched up against an opponent with a similar weight. As the later rounds approach, it is possible that those on the lower end of the scale could end up fighting somebody 100lb heavier. Surprisingly, Feldman told Helwani that commissions had agreed to the potential weight discrepancy as long as it occurred only in the later rounds. We’ll know more about the rules and stipulations nearer June, but the potential of their being such a huge weight advantage will raise questions from a safety standpoint.
However, the sixty-four-man tournament ends up looking come June; it will mark a historic moment in the history of BKFC. A $25 million prize purse is huge, considering how the organization is still only really in its infancy. Feldman and McGregor clearly have big plans for the BKFC moving forward, and the progress they have already made is something to be applauded, whether you like the optics of the sport or not. In recent times, Feldman has managed to get his organization licenced in every state he wanted to hold events in besides just two, Nevada and New York. If he manages to become regulated in said states and holds events there in future, expect the BKFC to continue in their ascendancy.
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