Conor McGregor has become a co-owner of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), according to BKFC president David Feldman.
Well, who’d have thought it? David Feldman, the big boss at BKFC, and Conor McGregor joining forces. It’s the surprise of 2024, and it all went down on Saturday.
Feldman spilled the beans during the BKFC KnuckleMania 4 broadcast. He played a video clip of McGregor himself announcing the news. The UFC superstar, alongside his McGregor Sports and Entertainment promotion, is now a co-owner of BKFC.
After the event, Feldman chatted with the media at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. He shared his thoughts on UFC’s biggest star stepping into the ring, so to speak.
“He’s now an owner of BKFC with us,” Feldman said at the post-fight press conference. “And we’re going to take this motherf*cking thing all the way to the top now.”
Remember when McGregor showed up at BKFC 41 in April 2023? He had that viral staredown with Mike Perry after Perry’s knockout win over Luke Rockhold. Feldman says that’s when the talks for McGregor to come over in an executive role began.
“He came to our event — in two days it will be a year [ago] — in Denver,” Feldman recalled. “He jumped in the ring, he called out Mike Perry in fun, and one thing led to another. We partnered with his beer, for his Irish stout, and they became a sponsor of us. He fell in love with this.”
Feldman continued, “We had some unbelievable conversations, some great ideas already exchanging. It was funny, I was telling my wife, ‘I was dying for Conor McGregor to call me and now the guy won’t stop calling me.’ It’s unbelievable. But he is so excited about this thing. I really think it takes it to the next level.”
Meanwhile, McGregor is getting ready to face Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 303 on June 29 in Las Vegas. It’s his first fight since suffering a brutal leg injury in his TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021.
With “The Notorious” prepping for his long-awaited UFC return, Feldman was asked about UFC CEO Dana White. How might White react to McGregor taking on a promotional role with a different fight promotion?
“Listen, Dana White has a juggernaut with the UFC,” Feldman said. “Conor McGregor certainly moves the needle for them, but [White]’s very successful without [McGregor] — not that he’s fighting for us. I’m just saying, but as him promoting our product for us? Who knows? You’re probably a little mad, your No. 1 star is going to talk about a different company, so you’re probably not very happy about it. But he’s not worried about us.”
“Not yet,” Feldman added, with a hint of mischief.