Conor McGregor is anything but an owner in name only when it comes to his investment in BKFC.
The former two-division UFC championāwho became a part owner in BKFC back in Aprilāis so serious about his passion for bare-knuckle fighting that heās promising to eventually take the gloves off and set foot in the ring for a fight himself. With only two fights remaining on his current UFC contract and the chance to act as his own promoter, BKFC president and founder David Feldman is taking McGregorās declaration seriously.
āUnless heās the best salesman in the world, the talks that weāve had itās like āIām fighting here,āā Feldman told MMA Fighting. āIām like yeah, OK. He [said] āIām fighting here.ā
āI go, āWhy wouldnāt you fight here?ā Because you have equity in the company and if you fight here, youāll probably make more money than anywhere else in the world because of what itās going to do for the company. So I truly believe what you said ā I think 100 percent he fights here.ā
The UFC recently announced that Michael Chandler would fight Charles Oliveira in November after he spent nearly two years waiting for a matchup against McGregor, which prompted the Irish superstar to suggest a co-promotion with BKFC so he could get back in action sooner rather than later.
While thereās no doubting McGregorās immense drawing power and the influence he holds with UFC, Feldman knows thereās no chance UFC would ever co-promote with him but itās not because there isnāt mutual respect between the promotions.
āThe UFC doesnāt need us,ā Feldman said. āThey donāt need us. We need to [co-promote] with them, they donāt need to [co-promote] with us, which would be phenomenal ā theyāre not going to do it. If they do Conor McGregor with anything, he donāt need to [co-promote] with us.ā
That means McGregor would need to leave UFC to fight for BKFC, but Feldman has stopped doubting his new business partner after seeing his commitment over these past few months.
McGregor could have easily injected some cash into BKFC, called himself a co-owner and then faded into the background after grabbing a few headlines. Feldman says that interpretations of McGregorās involvement couldnāt be further from the truth.
āHeās been unbelievable,ā Feldman said about McGregor. āHeās really been a partner so far. Blew away my expectations. Doing the interviews, he did the post-fight press conference, heās meeting the guys. Heās going over and hugging the fighters and telling them, āCome on letās do this!ā Heās sitting there ringside cheering for them. Heās posting all the time about it. Heās all in.
āWe had a great talk this weekend, it was just me and him talking and I said to him āI donāt know if you really believe me, but this is going to be the biggest thing in the world in a few years, thereās nothing thatās going to be bigger than this, trust me.ā He goes, āItās going to be two years.āā
Considering that just about everything McGregor touches turns to gold, itās tough to imagine he wonāt find a way to build BKFC into a powerhouse that will go toe-to-toe with just about any other combat sports organization out there.
Feldman is realistic when it comes to size and scale because he knows the UFC is a promotional juggernaut that wonāt be toppled. Still, he admits that the exponential growth of BKFC over these past few years has blown away even his biggest expectations and he expects McGregor to help them grow even bigger in the future.
ā[Conor] sees the vision,ā Feldman said. āAre we ever going to be the biggest combat sport in the world? Probably not honestly but weāre definitely going to be one of the biggest. Absolutely. The numbers just keep going up.ā
Iām surprised he never went the WWE route.
Might as well start now, at this pace heās never going to fight in the UFC again.
What the hell happened to his face?
He looks like heās already competed in BKFC.
He told Chandler they would fight last July
Maybe after all the drama theyll end up doing bkfc instead lol
I think he should have to fight Big Joe Joyce and a McDonagh if he wants to be the gypsy bare knuckle king.
The tapes back and forth would be incredible.