Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is moving forward with its biggest concept yet. The promotion’s founder, David Feldman, confirmed on Wednesday that the promotion’s much-discussed $25 million openweight tournament is officially on for 2027.
Originally, the tournament was supposed to take place last year; that was before Feldman realized the extent of the ambitious idea he was putting together. Speaking on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Feldman announced Wednesday that all the details have been sorted for the tournament to commence next year. A network on which the tournament will air is expected to be announced next week, he said.
Advertisement
“We signed a deal last week with the network. Signed, sealed and delivered. … We’re just working on, with the network, the timing,” Feldman told Uncrowned.
“It’s a big [network]. It’s going to be very, very good for the company. I just kind of threw [the idea] out there, and I had to go back it up. It wasn’t as easy to back up as I thought it was. It wasn’t as easy to put together, but finally, all the puzzle pieces are together, and we’re ready to make that announcement.”
The original plan was for 64 fighters to compete throughout the year, with the grand prize winner eventually crowned at the tournament’s end. Feldman didn’t touch on those specific details, but was adamant in making sure everything worked out one way or another. He said he expects to announce further details in the coming weeks.
Advertisement
Feldman has plenty to keep him busy in the meantime, especially after Darren Till made his long-awaited BKFC debut this past weekend with a vicious second-round knockout of Aaron Chalmers. The win marked Till’s first bout of his three-fight BKFC deal, keeping the Liverpudlian undefeated in competition since he parted ways with the UFC in 2023.
After the standout showing, Feldman hopes to get Till back in action for the promotion’s Manchester event in September.
“We’re going to talk about extending that [contract] a little bit,” Feldman said. “We have something big planned for him tentatively — a couple different names for that September 26 show that we’re going to do, and just want to get him back in there. We got tremendous viewership, tremendous social media engagement, tremendous online engagement [for his debut]. It was really, really unbelievable, so very excited about him, especially for the UK.”
The obvious answer to any “Who should Till fight?” question, especially under the BKFC banner, remains Mike Perry. The two former UFC welterweight contenders have been linked for nearly a decade. Now both are affiliated with BKFC, however Perry’s relationship with the promotion has experienced some bumps in the road since he boxed Jake Paul in 2024. Most recently, Perry returned to MMA as part of Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions show on Netflix, defeating Nate Diaz in the co-headlining bout underneath Ronda Rousey’s record-breaking MMA return against Gina Carano.
Mike Perry made his successful return to MMA against Nate Diaz on Netflix.
(Sarah Stier via Getty Images)
Despite any hang-ups between the two parties, Feldman assures that the relationship with Perry remains good on his end and he still hopes to make the Till matchup happen.
Advertisement
“We both really helped each other. We got him to a great point in his career. He became a multi-millionaire with us, and that’s great,” Feldman said. “That’s what we’re here to do. We’re here to help change fighters’ lives. He went on and obviously looked very, very good against Nate Diaz, and we’ll see what’s next.
“It is a little messed up that Mike wanted that fight and now Darren wants that fight, [but] let’s see if we can make it happen. I’m very confident we can. I’m not so confident we can for September. But I’m confident we can [at some point].”
Feldman noted that Perry still has two fights on his BKFC contract, making BKFC’s ability to put on Perry vs. Till seemingly an inevitability — as long as both men want to. In theory, it should be easy, he said. But, apparently, some details require intricate sorting.
“It’s a little difficult with the way we had the outs in the contact, but we’ll figure it out,” Feldman said. “Hopefully, we can get it done, and if we can’t, we’re going to move on. There are a lot of guys who are excited about bare-knuckle fighting right now. It took us a long time to get to a point where we were accepted … especially [in the] UK and internationally.”
Advertisement
Perry isn’t the only high-profile fighter with two fights left on his contract.
While he hasn’t fought for BKFC, former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor has been a major part of the promotion since becoming a part-owner in 2024. The Irishman reportedly has two fights left on his current UFC contract and is gearing up for his return against Max Holloway after a five-year absence at UFC 329 on July 11.
Feldman still loves the idea of McGregor fighting under the BKFC banner and believes it will happen. With the end of McGregor’s UFC deal in sight, the BKFC frontman envisions the possibility coming to fruition sooner rather than later.
Advertisement
“He could be [free this time next year],” Feldman said. “I want him to do what’s best for him, for his career, and what he wants to do. I think what he would want to do is help skyrocket a company he’s involved in. So we had talked about that in the past, and he said, ‘I’m definitely going to be doing this. I’m definitely fighting bare-knuckle.’
“I don’t want to get in the way of what he’s doing right now with the UFC for this fight coming up and get in the middle of their promotion, but I would not be surprised if, after his second fight, his third fight would be with BKFC. I would not be surprised at all.”
