Inside the wild and controversial world of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship: The tragic death of a fighter, horrendous facial cuts and booming interest with Conor McGregor now on board as part-owner

Fresh from his role as 'Knox', the swaggering thug in the remake of Road House, Conor McGregor made a purchase very much in line with his Hollywood character's persona. 

The Irishman became a part owner in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) this week, one of the fastest growing fight promotions in the world, a smaller, indirect competitor to his UFC paymasters, though a competitor all the same. 

It is a fascinating development for the 35-year-old, who is finally returning to the octagon on June 29 after three years away from the sport in which he made his name and fortune. 

He has proven himself as a savvy businessman and master of promotion, assets the president of Bare Knuckle FC David Feldman gushed about when welcoming him on board.

'Look, you’ve got the biggest guy in all of combat sports right now as a part owner of our company,' he said. 

GRAPHIC IMAGES WARNING 

'We’re partners with Conor McGregor. Everybody in the combat sports world, everybody in the world, knows who that guy is. So Conor, thank you, and let’s blow this s*** up.'

So what is Bare Knuckle FC? Is it destined to be a marginal organisation skirting the fringes of mainstream acceptance? Or, like the UFC, will it grow rapidly and break through to a wider audience? 

The ruleset is simple, punches are the only strike allowed and must be a closed fist. (No kicks, elbows, knees, or grappling). Fighters are allowed to wrap and tape the wrist, thumb, and mid-hand. No gauze or tape can be within one inch of the knuckles.

Some have argued that the less padding and protection fighters have on their hands, the safer they are. There is less of an impact on punches but crucially, far more cuts as skin and bone are sliced open without the soft leather cushion. 

For the bloodthirsty, the aesthetic is exactly what they're after on a Saturday night, for others, even fight fans, it can be too much. 

Evidently McGregor sees the potential. He claimed his net worth to be in the region of £536million last year in an interview with Megan Olivi and no doubt anticipates a further swelling of the coffers with BKFC on his portfolio. 

The organisation has 1.4million followers on Instagram, a total not to be sniffed at but still about 30 times fewer than their new part-owner.

Feldman, an American former boxer, founded the company in 2018 and held the first sanctioned bareknuckle event in the US since 1889. 

The company branched out and held events in Asia, featuring many fighters crossing over from MMA, often aging former stars or those with expired contracts. 

BKFC has had plenty of critics. And those arguing against it's existence were backed up in their arguments by a tragedy in 2021. 

Bare-knuckle fighter Justin Thornton died after sustaining an injury to his spinal chord following a 19-second KO at a BKFC event.

He was seemingly unresponsive in the ring, taken to hospital and put on a ventilator where he later died at the age of just 38. 

Thornton had lost his previous five fights and was matched up with an MMA fighter with a record of 10 wins and one defeat. 

UFC president Dana White was among those to speak about the tragedy, pointing out the difference in medical assessments, screenings and care between the promotions. 

He said: 'First of all, is anybody shocked? I mean, in bare-knuckle fighting? I’m not a big fan. And I get, I guess I would call it concerned, when I see some of our people when they leave here and go there. It’s like, oh my God.

'But when you look at this, we’ve been putting on fights for 25 years. I’ve done over 7,000 fights with no serious injuries in the UFC.

'Every year we spend over $20 million on athletic medical — $20 million a year — health and wellness or whatever it may be. And 25 percent of our athletes, we send to specialists.

'So a guy will come and his brain test won’t come out, it’ll be irregular, so we send him to a specialist. If something was irregular with his heart, he or she goes and sees a heart specialist, we spend the money to find out whatever is wrong with them. 

'And as a result of that, our pre-fight screening, throughout the last 20 years we found 10 athletes that had life-threatening medical problems with them and career-ending, that they shouldn’t be fighting. That if they weren’t in the UFC, they probably would’ve fought and they probably would’ve died. So we shouldn’t even be talked about in the same sentence as bare-knuckle boxing.

'It’s two completely different worlds. Yes, we’re very sorry to hear that this guy passed away, but you’re never going to see any of these other organizations doing the type of health and safety and medical testing that we do for our athletes.'

That tragedy was not enough to deter private company Triller from buying a majority stake in BKFC two years ago for an undisclosed amount. 

Triller, an AI-powered platform for creators, has been expanding into the streaming and fight space for some time and their acquisition is seen as a step forward for BKFC's legitimacy. 

McGregor is now on board and it appears to be a move he's been flirting with for some time. 

He showed up to an event last year, swigged his Proper No 12 whisky in the crowd and even faced off with ex-UFC fighter Mike Perry in the ring that night. 

Despite the fact that BKFC are technically a competitor to his paymasters, the UFC, White was not bothered by 'Notorious' seemingly helping to draw eyeballs to them. 

'Listen, man', he said. 'At the end of the day, Conor has done a lot here. He's made a lot of money. The guy is out having fun and it's all good.'

Asked if he took issue with the incident, White said: 'Not at all. Not even a little bit.'

Currently, Perry is seen as the face of the organisation. He headlined an event last month called BKFC KnuckleMania 4, banking £480,000 for his night's work, excluding discretionary bonuses and sponsorships. 

The pay packets on offer are only likely to tempt other fighters from various disciplines to sign up. 

BKFC shows no sign of slowing down and the holy grail for the company would surely be to have McGregor fight for them. 

The UFC's biggest ever superstar previously lobbied the company for a stake given the amount he has done to raise their profile. His wishes fell on deaf ears but now he has a piece of the BKFC pie and would directly benefit from the value he'd add by going bare knuckle.  

He remains under contract in the UFC, where White and Co will be desperate to keep him under lock and key. 

But McGregor's part-ownership is a major play and the surest sign yet that they are a coming force in the fight world.