Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship President David Feldman has teased a monumental announcement which will set tongues wagging.
Feldman revealed that before the end of 2024, BKFC will announce a $25million tournament that is open to anybody from all over the world.
UFC legend Conor McGregor is a minority owner of BKFC[/caption]
The tournament is likely to be bare-knuckle boxing only, but could attract fighters from a variety of mixed martial arts promotions, including Karate Combat and the Professional Fighters League.
Fighters from other MMA organisations may be highly interested too, due to the wild prize money on offer, should they be allowed to compete with contract exemptions.
It’s unrealistic to say that UFC CEO Dana White would grant any of his fighters permission to compete in the tournament, as he’s only done that once before in his career.
Conor McGregor is a minority owner in BKFC and it was his 2017 boxing clash with Floyd Mayweather that White made an exception for.
The fight was promoted as ‘The Money Fight’ and certainly lived up to its name, as it remains the second biggest gate – behind Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao – in US boxing history to this day.
Speaking on XM’s Fight Nation with retired MMA fighters Alan Jouban and Din Thomas, Feldman teased what would be the largest prized tournament in combat sports history.
He said: “I’m about three weeks out [December 10] from announcing this, but I’m gonna announce the biggest tournament in combat sports history, with the largest prize that’s ever been on a tournament in combat sports history.
“Just to give you a little hint; it’s going to be a 25 million dollar prize and we’re in the search for someone really special.
“We’re going to drop that announcement in three weeks and I think it’s going to capture everybody’s attention in all combat sports.
“So what we’re going to do is – I can’t say too much about it – but we’re gonna to do try outs. I think we’re going to grab like a thousand people and we’re gonna narrow it down to 24.
“Then we’re going to get rid of 16 and we’re gonna have eight that is left standing and that’s going to be the guys that are going to fight for the real money.
“Now everybody else is going to get paid along the way, but they’re gonna fight for the real prize.”
It is believed that ‘Money’ Mayweather Jr, who retired with an undefeated record and won 15 major world championships across five weight classes, has received the largest-ever payment for a combat sports fight.
After his 2013 victory over Canelo Alvarez, reports suggested that Mayweather received a guaranteed $41.5m and his total revenue skyrocketed to over $80m following pay-per-view sales.
“Anybody from all over the world, anybody from any organisation from any combat sport, anybody is welcome to do this,” Feldman added when referring to who will compete in the tournament.
“There’s not much more I can say about it right now. It’s going to be, when I announce it, I think people are going to be like: ‘Holy s***, this is unbelievable!’”
McGregor’s business empire got bigger when he became a part owner of BKFC in April this year.
He has been a consistent promoter of BKFC’s events on social media and in person – notably attending recent cards in Marbella and Newcastle.
‘The Notorious’ was in attendance for BKFC 68 inside Newcastle’s Utilita Arena, after watching Newcastle beat Arsenal in the Premier League earlier in the day.
McGregor was left stunned by a brutal knockout during the event that left a fighter motionless and needing an oxygen mark to help with his breathing.
He still has two fights left on his contract with the UFC, but has previously stated he would like to compete in BKFC once he departs White’s promotion.
BKFC announced on Tuesday that former UFC champion Eddie Alvarez, who dropped his lightweight belt to McGregor in November 2016, would fight Jeremy Stephens in the main event of Knucklemania V on January 25.
McGregor infamously said: ‘Who the f*** is that guy?!” to Stephens, who attempted to call out the champion during the UFC 205 press conference.
The event will take place at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Arena and will be broadcast live on DAZN.
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