Despite the popularity of UFC and boxing, the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship has really been making waves in the combat sports realm, and at the forefront of it is Conor McGregor. While the sport was gaining traction with ex-UFC fighters like Mike Perry and Jeremy Stephens finding success in it, ‘The Notorious’ has truly drawn significant eyes to the sport, with him aggressively taking on the role of a promoter. While the former two-weight UFC champion is primarily a part-owner and hasn’t competed under the BKFC banner yet, he never fails to hype up the promotion’s events, and the recent PPV delivered on all grounds.
BKFC 70, which took place in Hollywood, Florida, had a number of knockouts, which is what most fight fans want to see. Out of the eleven fights on that card, eight fights ended with a KO/TKO finish. In one of those fights—the co-main event—former WBA interim cruiserweight champion Steve Herelius made his BKFC debut. But he only lasted 13 seconds, getting knocked out by Leonardo Perdomo, extending and keeping his 100 percent finishing rate intact. In fact, it was the fifth time that he had ended a fight under a minute under Conor McGregor’s partly-owned promotion banner.
After that fight, Conor McGregor told people to expect the unexpected in bare-knuckle fighting. Thereafter, ‘The Notorious’ sent a stern warning to any boxers or MMA fighters taking the competition in BKFC fights lightly. “What you saw there this evening was unprecedented. We had our heavyweight sensation, ‘El Zambo’, representing Cuba, knock out a former WBA boxing heavyweight world champion in 13 seconds,” McGregor stated during the post-fight press conference.
“Understand, some of these boxing organization fighters and some of these mixed martial artists think that they’re just going to rosy on and mosy on over here, and it’s going to be all sweet, and it’s a little retirement package. Think again,” Conor McGregor further stated. “This is as real as it gets. This is the real game right here – Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. And nothing in the space of combat sports comes close.”
Conor McGregor doubled down on his and the BKFC’s executives’ goal of making the promotion the biggest in combat sports. And guess what? While thanking Hollywood for hosting BKFC 70, the Irishman boldly claimed that they’re already getting the better of their competition. “We have topped every other promotion like a lead balloon. Bare knuckle is on top, we’re on the rise, we’re going global. But make no mistake—Hollywood, Florida, is our home,” McGregor added.
For fans, besides witnessing the rise of BKFC, they might just get a chance to see the Irishman compete in bare-knuckle fighting. That’s because, for the first time, the Irishman has hinted at retiring from his UFC career after more than a dozen years of association.
Conor McGregor could leave his UFC career behind
At the pressers, Conor McGregor made some concerning remarks about his UFC return. He claimed to have been offered a fight to be held at Alcatraz Island on San Francisco Bay, but he rejected it, claiming that the offer wasn’t lucrative enough for him. McGregor only wants fights that make sense for him, and if he doesn’t get to do that in the UFC, Dana White‘s promotion, he claims that he’s made enough PPV records and won enough championships to be satisfied with his career. Now, the Irishman is leaning heavily towards politics.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on back home, I’m happy with what I’ve done. There’s something else for me that’s in my gut right now and that’s kind of where I’m going,” Conor McGregor added. “There was an opportunity or a deal, we’ll say, to fight in Alcatraz only recent… They came to me and it wasn’t my worth.” Well, if McGregor does decide to depart from the UFC, it will open the doors for him to potentially compete in the BKFC or pursue other fights due to the absence of contract restrictions. It’ll be interesting to see what he decides to do.
Regardless, what do you think about Conor McGregor’s warning to the boxers and MMA fighters about the consequences of stepping inside the BKFC squared circle? Let us know in the comments down below.
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