Wikipedia - Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship
The Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promotion based in Philadelphia. The promotion was founded in April 2018, and is presided over by David Feldman.
BKFC is the first promotion to hold an official state-sanctioned and commissioned bare-knuckle boxing event in the United States since 1889. Its first event was held in 2018, with 142 events held as of December 2025.
History
BKFC's inaugural event, which took place on June 2, 2018, featured the first American-sanctioned, women's bare-knuckle fight in modern history. The Bare-Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame recognized this milestone and awarded the victor of this contest, Bec Rawlings, with the National Police Gazette World Diamond Belt several days later. At BKFC 3, Arnold Adams defeated Sam Shewmaker in the finals of an eight-man tournament to be crowned as the inaugural BKFC Heavyweight Champion. This event also hosted the quarterfinals of a tournament to crown a Lightweight champion. In February 2019, former UFC light heavyweight title contender Anthony Johnson announced that he will be joining the company in an administrative role.
On March 6, 2021, before the establishment of BKFC Thailand, BKFC organized BKFC: Bare Knuckle Kingdom in partnership with Full Metal Dojo in Thailand. In October 2021, Nick Chapman established Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship Thailand (BKFC Thailand), the first, officially-licensed branch of BKFC in Asia. BKFC Thailand held its inaugural event on December 18, 2021, sub-titled "The Game Changer". However, as of July 2024, BKFC Thailand ceased operations, and is now defunct.
On February 24, 2022, David Feldman announced on The MMA Hour that TrillerNet had acquired a majority stake of BKFC. At BKFC 26, on June 24, 2022, BKFC Lightweight Champion Luis Palomino won the Welterweight Championship to become the first double champion in BKFC history.
In September 2022, it was announced that BKFC had acquired the UK-based Bare Fist Boxing Association (BFBA), forming Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship United Kingdom (BKFC UK). The United Kingdom is a significant market for modern bare-knuckle boxing, hosting prominent promotions such as Bare Knuckle Boxing (BKB™) in Coventry, Bad To The Bone (BTTB) in Stoke-on-Trent, and Ultimate Bare Knuckle Boxing (UBKB) in Warrington. Before acquiring the Bare Fist Boxing Association and officially establishing BKFC UK, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship made its debut in the United Kingdom with BKFC 27: London, which took place on 20 August 2022. The event was headlined by MMA veterans Mike Perry and Michael Page. On November 14, 2022, BKFC Thailand underwent a rebranding to BKFC Asia, though events hosted in Thailand retained the "BKFC Thailand" designation to maintain regional recognition.
In 2023, BKFC announced the launch of the BKFC Prospects Series. Fighters on the Prospects Series will compete in front of BKFC President David Feldman for a chance at a contract with BKFC; similar in format to Dana White's Contender Series, or the PFL Challenger Series in mixed martial arts. Competitors in the Prospects Series include previous participants at BKFC open tryouts, as well as athletes with backgrounds in boxing, Muay Thai, and mixed martial arts. The first edition of the BKFC Prospects Series premiered on August 24, 2023, in Miami, with six contracts being awarded.
In 2024, at the occasion of BKFC: Knucklemania IV, it was announced that Conor McGregor and his company "McGregor Sports and Entertainment" were now part owners of BKFC. On June 5, 2024, BKFC announced a talent-sharing program with the Japan-based Rizin Fighting Federation, in which both companies would allow talent fight in each other's organizations in bareknuckle bouts. At Super Rizin 3 on July 28, 2024, Charisa Sigal, Tai Emery, Takaki Soya, and John Dodson all fought in bareknuckle bouts on the undercard.
In July, 2025, Conor McGregor and David Feldman made a number announcements at the inaugural BKFC 2025 Champions Summit on Hollywood, Florida. The announcements included launching the BKFC’s World's Baddest Man $25 Million Tournament and acquiring majority shares in a Lethwei promotion in Asia. This new branch of BKFC was named "BKFC Lethwei" and headed by former BKFC Thailand CEO, Nick Chapman.