Two of the most important players in MMA are now collaborating.
Triller, the social media company that expanded into fight promotion beginning in 2020, has acquired “a majority stake” in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC).
BKFC founder David Feldman revealed the news Wednesday on The MMA Hour.
“We grew the thing to a level where we believed that we had reached as far as it was possible for us right now.” Feldman stated on The MMA Hour .. We’ve faced so many challenges and had so many people tell us, “This will never happen. You’ll never succeed.” Feldman stated on The MMA Hour.
“Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s majority share has been agreed to by Triller Verzuz. So Triller will acquire the majority stake in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, like I said, to allow more opportunities, more resources, more funding, just everything that we really need to vie for that No. 1, No. 2 spot in combat sports.”
A Philadelphia-based company founded in 2018, BKFC became the first promotion to hold sanctioned bare-knuckle boxing events in the United States since 1889. The organization has held 27 events since its inception and signed a host of notable names from the worlds of both boxing and MMA, including Chad Mendes, Artem Lobov, Bec Rawlings, Chris Leben, Paulie Malignaggi, Paige VanZant and more. Its latest event, BKFC Knucklemania 2 on February 19, featured the bare-knuckle boxing debut of UFC veteran Mike Perry.
Triller, likewise, has approached the fight game in its own unique way since debuting in the combat sports space with a pay-per-view event headlined by an exhibition fight between boxing legends Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020. In the time since, the organization has promoted two Jake Paul fights, as well as boxing bouts featuring former UFC champions Anderson Silva, Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, and former boxing heavyweight titleholder Evander Holyfield. Late 2021, Triller introduced Triller Triad Combat. This mixed-rules event featured a matchup of boxing and MMA between Frank Mir and Kubrat Pulev.
Feldman stated that
“Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship would remain the same as it is. “We will be self-sustained as far as operations continue, the fighters, everything. Nothing is really going to change in the operations of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Now, we just have more options .”
, resources and assets.
