Bryce Hall feels that the BKFC’s popularity will now skyrocket in the same way as the UFC’s recognition grew in the “early 2000s”. The influencer cum bare-knuckle fighter appeared on the latest episode of Bo Nickal’s YouTube podcast, where he revealed how bare-knuckle fighting was getting legalized in various states of the US.
He also mentioned that this feat was similar to the growth of the UFC’s popularity in the initial years of the millennium.
Avid UFC fans may know that the promotion had failed to make enough revenue even after Dana White’s takeover in February 2001. But their idea of producing the fighting-based TV reality show, ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, proved to be a major turning point.
The UFC authorities didn’t have to look back after the first TUF finals in 2005 between Forest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar boosted their stocks unthinkably.
Hall implied that the legalization of bare-knuckle fighting in various states was a sign of its “UFC of the early 2000s”-like rise. The 24-year-old said,
“Bare-knuckle [fighting] is obviously growing [in popularity] now. It’s like the UFC back in the early 2000s. It has been sanctioned in around thirty states”
Well, there are several factors at play behind the growing popularity of David Feldman’s promotion. But a look at the entire scenario says that BKFC authorities should be thankful to the UFC athletes for their growing popularity.
McGregor & Perry Adding UFC Sauce to BKFC
Several UFC stars decided to join the BKFC after calling an end to their tenure in Dana White’s promotion.
Their transition to David Feldman’s promotion caused a large chunk of their fanbase to tune into their bare knuckle fights, thereby boosting its popularity.
The UFC’s contribution towards the growth of the BKFC popularity becomes even more apparent after looking at the fact that the current face of the promotion, Mike ‘The Platinum’ Perry is also a former UFC fighter.
Meanwhile, UFC’s biggest star till date, Conor McGregor also decided to make his way into the owners’ club of the BKFC alongside Feldman a few months ago.
Needless to say, it caused even more UFC fans to take an interest in BKFC events and affairs.
Following the BKFC head honcho’s revelation about McGregor’s substantial equity in the promotion, it will also be pretty interesting to witness what steps ‘Mystic Mac’ takes to increase the promotion’s popularity even further.
