BKFC President David Feldman recently met with UFC CEO Dana White, marking a significant step in forging connections within the martial arts community.
Following Friday night’s BKFC 57 event, Feldman engaged in a conversation about a recent photo he shared of himself standing alongside White. BKFC has been enjoying rapid growth, with ongoing efforts to obtain sanctions in California and Nevada.
California has already given the green light for bare-knuckle combat in the state, and BKFC has announced Knucklemania IV, scheduled for April 27th in Los Angeles.
When asked about his meeting with White, Feldman told MMA Fighting, “It was more like just making allies. That’s really all I have to say. It was a great meeting, he’s a great guy. He’s doing his thing in the UFC and we’re going to do our thing in BKFC. . We’re going to be the biggest martial arts sport on the planet.”
Feldman has previously emphasized that he doesn’t view the UFC as a direct competitor, as bare-knuckle fighting differs from MMA. Notably, BKFC stands as one of the few major martial arts promotions that consistently sells tickets to its events, achieving a significant milestone in December by selling over 8,000 tickets for BKFC 56 in Utah.
Regarding potential collaboration with the UFC in the future, Feldman expressed openness, particularly in exploring cross-promotional opportunities that would allow UFC fighters to compete in BKFC and vice versa. Previously, BKFC engaged in a similar collaboration when Bellator MMA permitted Michael “Venom” Page to compete against Mike Perry in a bare-knuckle bout.
“We want to grow the sport,” Feldman stated. “We want to make our sport the biggest it can be. If that means partnering with other promotions, we would be against doing something like that. Not because we think it’s going to grow the sport, it’s going to grow the company, it’s going to grow the business. So if that’s something that’s going to grow, we’re happy to go for it.”
Feldman also shared that he recently met with RIZIN Chairman Nobuyuki Sakakibara and welcomed the Abu Dhabi dignitary to Friday’s BKFC 57 card, all aligning with his plans for BKFC’s global expansion. Bare Knuckle Show has previously hosted events in countries such as Thailand and the UK.
“We had people from all over the world tonight,” Feldman remarked. “They all loved it, so we’re going to expand everywhere.”
