Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Bare Knuckle FC President David Feldman on Why BKFC is the Fastest Growing Sport in the World

Episode Date: July 21, 2021

David Feldman is the Founder and President of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. He joins Chris Van Vliet from Philadelphia, PA to talk about how BKFC has become the fastest growing sport in the world, the struggles he went through to get it sanctioned, what signing Paige VanZant meant for the company, the offer they made to Mike Tyson to have a bare knuckle fight, the 5-year plan for him and BKFC, why he feels this is safer than MMA or boxing and much more! For more info on BKFC visit: https://bareknuckle.tv Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And here we go, my friends. Welcome back to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm Chris Fahin-Vleat. Thank you so much for being with us on this episode and on every single episode. And as a fan of combat sports and just sports in general, it's been so amazing seeing what Bareknuckle FC, BKFC has accomplished over the last two-ish years. I mean, there's a reason why it's the fastest growing sport in the world. And it's such an honor to have the founder and president.

of BKFC, David Feldman on the show with us today. You can find BKFC on every social media platform at Bareknuckle FC. You can find David on Instagram. He's at David Feldman 1. And if you're not already, you can follow me. I'm at Chris Van Fleet.

Speaking of following, make sure to click follow or subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening right now. I super appreciate you for being here, but don't forget to subscribe or follow so you don't miss out on any future episodes. that we have. And thank you so much for these reviews that have been coming in on Apple podcasts. You guys are awesome. And this is a huge reason why the show keeps climbing its way

up the charts for reviews like these ones. So if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, please take a second to leave a review like this one from Jose in Puerto Rico. He says, this is the best interview wrestling podcast around. It's easy to listen to and it has great pacing. Chris is the master of letting his guests express themselves without any awkwardness. Always great interviews. Well, thank you so much. I super appreciate that. And again, if you happen to be listening on Apple Podcasts, since they're the only ones that have reviews,

I'm not singling them out as being a better or worse podcast platform. I'm just saying they have reviews. So if you could, please leave a review like our friend Jose here. It could just be a few words. It's, you know, fine, just a few words. Anything here is better than nothing. But in the case of today's guest, he has given everything to make Bear Knuckle FC the success that it has become. And, I mean, they're just getting started.

Their next event is Friday, July 23rd in Tampa, Florida. For more info, you can go to Bearknuckle. Dot TV. Let's dive into this. Please welcome David Feldman. Well, David, thank you so much for being with us. Absolutely, man. It's been, I mean, from the outside looking in, it's been a wild two-ish years for you guys with,

Bareknuckle FC. What's it been like for you on the inside watching this grow? Looking for the nicest restaurant to celebrate at and then looking for the closest bridge you jump off of. It's been such a wild, crazy ride. But I mean, it's really just been an unbelievable experience that I couldn't even have imagined when I thought of this thing of how fastest would grow and, you know, the kind of recognition, the kind of acceptance that we got so fast. I always thought this was going to happen, but I thought it would take five to seven years to get where we're at. We have a tremendous team. They did really, really good job of coming together and having each other's back and making things happen.

So, you know, it's been a tremendous, tremendous ride. And she's really happy where we're at and can't wait for the growth. What did you think was missing from combat sports? I mean, you've been around combat sports for pretty much your whole life. What do you think was missing that bare knuckle was going to fill? I don't know so much if something was missing or if there was just something extra that could be added. And I thought that, you know, if you could do something that was a little bit more fast-paced in today's environment, I like to call it like today's ADD environment because everybody is either diagnosed with ADD or things that have ADD.

So it was fast-paced, exciting, shorter round. closer atmosphere. You've got nothing but action for the entire fight. So I think I just thought that that could fit into today's society. And it is, man. They love it. It's action-packed, fast-paced, excitement, really, really the purest form of fighting. There is out there right now, and, you know, we're giving the fans something great.

Fighters are fighting their asses off. They're doing really, really tremendous. And everything seems to be working out. A lot of businesses have struggled so much over the last year and a half with COVID. COVID, BKFC has exploded. So what's what's the secret here? You know, it was really just forward thinking. And this whole thing has been a risk, right? Obviously, it gave 10 years of my life to try to get this thing sanctioned. I didn't know if would ever get sanctioned and then finally got sanctioned. And then I gave the next two and a half

years just trying to get this thing going, which, you know, I had to ram it down. People strode because they didn't know what it was. So, you know, when COVID came, it was just, it was really just another speed bump. I'm not taking light of it. Trust me. I mean, I feel so bad for

everybody that lost their life or got seriously injured from this or really, I even feel closer to those that lost their livelihoods, really.

You know, they lost their livelihoods forever during this. So that was a tremendous, a tremendous setback for those individuals and I feel really bad. But on that note is we just

said, I have to make something happen. So, you know, we were, do we do a closed door show? I saw the UFC did it, tremendous. It was great for them to set the tone, but didn't have the atmosphere as much there.

You didn't hear the crowd and didn't see the atmosphere. So I said, look, let's do a live event with fans where we can do it. We found a place in Oxford, Mississippi. John Lewis is the commissioner there. Great guy. Gave us an opportunity. So July 24th, 2020, we became the first live sporting event in the country with fans. And then we just moved on to September, October, November, December. And then we skipped January. and we did February around the Super Bowl, tremendous event for us, Nucklemania, and things have just started to explode.

You know, I think if you can give the fan a very, very consistent product, you know, they're going to, they're going to like what you, you know, what they see and they're going to continue to be a fan.

And that's how we were able to grow our fan base, I believe. You talked about getting this thing sanctioned and getting this legalized. What does that process look like? well you know so right now it's it's I'm not going to say it's simple but it's a lot easier it's a different it's a different presentation that when I had when I was uh presenting this without any any any experience under my belt meaning any bernacle experience so imagine this I'm going

into a commission a board of commissioners tan anum and I'm sitting there and I said I want I want you to sanction bernacle fighting because it's safer it's you know safer than Poxy and they're looking at me like, what is wrong with this dude, man? How's he coming in there telling me bare knuckle is safer? And I would do one simple thing. Actually, two simple things.

First thing I would do is I would take, have the main commissioner come over to the wall, and I would say, punch the wall with your bare knuckle. And he would just like tap it a little bit. Then I would put a glove on him and I would say, hit the wall. Boom. And he would crack it. And I would say, that's my case.

And they're like, I didn't even have to explain it. They're like, wow, I get it. I just get it. So it was still. harder because I didn't have the experience behind my butt. Then I would also grab, like, mock grabbing the back of someone's knee and smash a head and smashing into my knee. And I would say, what do you think is harder? That or a barrenuple? And they all said the knee. And I said, well, why can't I do this? Right. So, but it took the right commissioner and it was

Brian Patterson out of Cheyenne, Wyoming gave me, gave me the opportunity in March of 2018 to June 2nd of 2018, becoming the first ever legal sanctioned and regulated baronel fighting promotion in world history. And we just made a big, big splash that day. And now, because we were lucky enough to acquire the consulting of Dr. Don Moosey, who is the president of the Association of Rinkside Position. So that means he's the number one fight doctor in the country. He is our consultant.

He compiled data now from all of our fights that lets everybody know that we have less injuries in boxing or mixed martial arts. So, you know, we have less concussiveness, less subconcussive blows or landed, less head trauma, less facial fractures, and even less hand fractures. The only thing we have more of is more lacerations. So the unique thing about that is not,

you know, we knew it as we were doing it, but now we actually have data. So you can argue my opinion all you want, but you can't argue the data. The data is the data. It is what it is. So that's what's really helping open up these doors that have been checked for so long.

I feel like BKFC is being looked at the same way that UFC was being looked at 25 years ago. This is barbaric. I can't believe people are doing this. What's it going to take to shift that mindset for the general public? I think it's just, you know, staying the course, really. Because every fight that we go to and people watch it and they love it, especially live. It's fun.

It's exciting. It's fast-paced. It's got a little bit of bruntleness to it. But they see the fighters walk out at a ring fine, not get carried out on stretchers, you know, not groggy. they just walk out of the ring. Yeah, they're busted up, but then you see the picture of them a week later, and they're perfect. So I think it's just staying the course a little longer. Stay in the course a little longer, getting these studies behind us. And the really great thing is actually next Wednesday, we become the, not we, but Baruncle becomes the newest, I guess, part of the Association of Boxing Commissioners, the ABC is they are forming a Barrenocle Boxing Committee for the first time in history, which is, just unbelievable for us and should make it a lot easier to open up these doors. You're making history here, Dave. This is amazing. Yeah, I mean, it's great. Look, I was offered a lot of money last week, just last week to sell.

And I have to tell you that I stayed up for two nights in a row thinking, like, do I take this money? But you know, man, and when you get to know me, you understand that I'm a passionate person. And it's not just in here for the money. And it's not just that. It's that I have a core three or four people that worked for me since jump street since the beginning. Some work for two years for free, not a dime. So until I can change their lives, like not just give them a little money, but change their lives and change my own life at the same time, you know, leave enough for generations, you know, below us to do this.

That's when I know it's time to go. And, you know, by that time, I'm sure we're going to really change the mind of a lot of people. Is the hope here to take some fans away from boxing, take some fans away from MMA, or are you trying to create a whole new fan base. I think we will certainly borrow some fans from boxing or MMA. I'm not going to say take them because I think if you're a big MMA fan, you're going to stay a big MMA fan. If you're a big boxing fan, you're going to stay one.

But there's always room for improvement or something different. But I think what sets us apart is for the common person is everybody in the world has either witnessed a bare knuckle fight or been in a bare knuckle fight in their life. So I think it's more adaptable to the common person than boxing or mixed martial arts is. Therefore, I think we can certainly open up a new fan base at the same time using the boxing and MMA fan base. But the thing about us in Burnap of Fighting Championship, we just really stay in our own lane. We stand our own lane. We market the way we want to market.

We use some fighters from Mix March Arts from boxing and if we're gaining new fans that have never really watched combat sports before, that's great. But, you know, we're here just to just to do our thing. We're not trying to hurt anybody else in the process. We're just building this phenomenon up and it's, you know, it's catching fire. This may be pretty broad, but for you as an athlete when you were in the ring or for you now as an entrepreneur, what do you think has been the best advice that you've been given? I mean, you know, there's been a lot. Really, there's been a lot, but it's just really just been, you know, stay the course.

don't don't actually but one of my investors he came in and you know we talked for a while and then he invested money a good good amount of money he came back in the room and he was like one thing don't ever lose your passion i didn't invest in this business i invested in your passion so i think that's really what it is because that's what happened last week i almost lost my passion for the money but i didn't lose my passion and i think as long as i have this passion and this fire and me to grow this thing. Again, like I said, it's not about money. I realized that last week, I was like, I thought I was in this for the money. I'm not in it for the money. I'm in it. I'm in it because I need to show people out there that if you work hard enough and really work your ass off that, you know,

you can you can make any dream you want come true. If, you know, within reason, obviously, if you want to fly to the moon, you might not be able to fly to the moon. But if you have something within reason that you can make happen and you work your ass off and have the kind of passion that it takes to get there, I think I'm living proof that it can happen. Mike Tyson's name is being thrown around with BKFC for a while. How close was that to actually happening? You know, I don't know how close it was actually happening.

The offer was official. We talked to their team a couple times. That was real. Everything about it was real. Did Mike Tyson want to get hit with the bare knuckle at his age? That was the big question, and ultimately the answer was no. You know, he did his fight, which was a great fight against Roy Jones, but I don't think that they went in there really at a war trying to kill each other.

I think they went in there more of a show. And you know what? Mike Tyson for all he's accomplished and always changed throughout his years with boxing, he deserves that. He deserves the opportunity to just entertain and get paid for it. And that's what happened for him. You've been so successful so far, you know, two-ish, three years in so far. What's the five-year plan from now for Barronach-Lef's day?

Five years from now? Sure. Yeah. That's definitely sitting on an island somewhere. I got really three to five years left in this thing. I mean, the stress, really, the wherewithal, the stress, you know, I can't spend as much time with my family as I need to. And I want to. I want to be able to do those things.

And I can't right now. And it's okay because they understand why. You know, I can't just sit around at home. But in three to five years, I think I'll get it to a point. where I don't want to really walk away from it, but where I could really consult who would be the predecessor. Maybe that would be Dave Jr., who's the COO right now, or maybe that's going to be someone else that comes in.

I don't know. But I'd love to continually always stay involved with it in some way, shape, or form because, you know, it's kind of like a baby to me. Like I literally brought this thing, hatched it, and, you know, kind of made it happen. So I love this. I really, really truly love this. This was not a job. this is something I really love.

I believe in it. I think the fans believe in it. The fighters believe in me. So for everybody that believes in me, you know, I got a lot more work to do. Do you laugh at people who don't know your background, don't know your history, and think you're just like the new kid on the block?

Well, you know, it's funny because I had a, I actually, you know, went outside. It was, it was tough for me, man, because I try to always be as professional as possible. But one of the trainers the other day actually started talking a lot of smack to me. You know, I lost my phone. Like, yo, I said, oh, man, what's up?

You want to do this here or you want to do this outside? What do you want to do? Huh? And then I was like, oh, my God, what did you just do? Like, why are you acting like that now? Well, you know what? It burns inside of me. So I think that the thing, why this thing really does the way it does, really,

and I had this relationship I do what the fighters is because I was in there. And I did get punched in my head, and I know what they go through. And I treat them that way. Obviously, some fighters, you know, think that, they're entitled to a lot more than other fighters and or more than they're really worth. And then, you know, we butt heads. But I think me having a fighting experience really and, you know, bad been fighting in my bloodline really helps me or helped help really grow disting to the point of set it right now.

What was the tipping point for you guys? What really pushed you over the edge and made this like a more mainstream thing? I think it was, um, it first started out with, uh, Pauli Malinaghi fighting, um, Artem Lobo because it got the boxing versus MMA world from the feud with kind of McGregor, all that coming together. So I think that was the one that kind of pushed it. And then we had some really great articles in Forbes magazine that said, why Baroneckle Fighting Championship is the next billion dollar combat sport.

Those kind of things, I think, made people go, wow, this isn't just another backyard thing or another startup. This is something that can be something. And now it's just if you watch one of these shows live, it's over. If you're a combat sports fan, obviously. If you're a ballet fan, you might not like you. But you're a combat sports fan and you watch this live, it's over. It's over for you.

We had Paige Van Zan on the show not too long ago. And I think that when you guys signed her, people went, oh, well, this is the real deal when they're getting names like that. Absolutely. You know, Paige did wonders for us. She wasn't really getting paid, what she should have been getting paid. And we, you know, we pay, I think we overpaid her, meaning we didn't overpay her to her value. for us, but we overpaid her from what other people were going to pay her. But she was worth every cent that we spent on her. She was the most expensive fighter that we ever had, the most

expensive card, and we brought in the most revenue we ever brought in. So it worked. She was every bit valuable to us as we paid for her. So it worked for us. And I think that also, while all these other companies were bidding for her and we won that bid, I think it was like, wow, these guys are serious. They're really here to play ball. And now I just got to tell. for poor legends to fight right now. I'm on the phone with you. So things are looking good, man. They're heating up.

And I really love the direction and where this thing's going. Look, I want to be super respectful of your time. Thank you for being on with us. I have just one last question. I had every interview talking about gratitude because I say that if you can be grateful, you'll live a great life.

So what are three things in your life right now, Dave, that you're grateful for? I'm grateful for my team. I mean, my team really like, you know, they showed me that. that I could be, you know, with the proper work, dedication that you can be anything you want to be. It was my team. My team went through everything with me.

I mean, you know, that was, I'm truly grateful for that. I'm grateful for, you know, Brian Pedersen, he gave me a shot. He gave me a shot. You saw this could be something and he gave me a chance. And I'm grateful for my, you know, my family, my wife who sacrifices so much so I can sit here and, you know, work my ass off and try to build, build this thing. So I think that's the three things that I'm most grateful for right now. And things are just getting bigger and bigger

every single day. Thank you so much for making some time for us today. Awesome. Thanks, Chris. Well, there you go, my friends. And the fact that David Feldman was able to squeeze us in for an interview during Fight Week, I think, says a lot about who he is. So a massive thank you to him for giving us some insight into the backstory of BKFC and where he sees it heading. If you're a fan of combat sports and haven't checked out Bear Knuckle yet.

This Friday, July 23rd, that's your chance. BKFC 19 is live from Tampa. Go to Baruncle.tv for more info. And please share this episode with somebody who you know would love this. Somebody who loves MMA or Combat Sports. Take a screenshot. Tag us. BKFC is at Bear Knuckle FC and I am at Chris Van Fleet.

I mean, it's just so amazing to see how far they've come in such a lot of a short period of time. And I'm pumped. I'm pumped to see what the next six months, 12 months, 24 months looks like for bare knuckle. Before we go, I'll share the words with Benjamin Diserreli, who says, action may not bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action. Be great. Be grateful, my friends. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes.

So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take it man, job, but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef?

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