After a career filled with knockouts, trash talk, historic paydays, and more than a few controversies, Conor McGregor has turned his gaze from the Octagon to the boardroom. But this isn’t just another retired fighter trying his hand at promotion.
No, McGregor’s got bigger plans—plans that involve building up the wild, no-gloves world of BKFC (Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship) into a mainstream juggernaut. And according to a former UFC insider, he’s not going in blind. In fact, he’s digging into a very familiar playbook… one that helped shape the UFC into the global phenomenon it is today.
McGregor is not doing this alone; like any other business, BKFC requires the input of a number of brilliant minds to make it successful. One such individual is Eric Winter, who was a former executive at the UFC.
Winter worked for two years at the UFC as the senior vice president and general manager, and therefore, he knows a thing or two about how Dana White and the UFC as a result, operate behind closed doors. In an interview with Sports Business Unplugged, he gave a candid insight into the tactics being borrowed from White’s playbook to replicate his success.
“BKFC, on its appearance, is a bit more brutal because it’s bare-knuckle. I am not a fan of using the words bare knuckle, I am a believer in brand,” Winter said.
He explained how White used the power of branding to market the UFC to the masses, where it is now being broadcast in 165 countries, courtesy of 60+ global broadcasters, to more than 1.1 billion TV households worldwide in over 40 different languages.
“You don’t see Dana saying Ultimate Fighting Championship, you see Dana saying UFC. And so my vision and belief is that we need to call it BKFC,” he noted.
Needless to say, while the two sports are largely different and the final outcome of Winter’s process might follow that lead, there are a lot more similarities in the two sports than meets the eye.
A similar road for BKFC and the UFC
When it first started, the UFC was frowned upon. For the people watching, it was too violent to be on TV. Most notably, the late Senator John McCain famously branded it as ‘human cockfighting’.
This meant the UFC struggled to secure venues for their events and even struggled massively to get on TV. As White famously stated that po*n was available on PPV, but the UFC was not allowed to be broadcast.
Over time, and with fans getting more educated about the sport, the perception of the UFC changed from ‘human cockfighting’ to a legitimate sport that takes skill, discipline, and talent to master, just like any other sport.
The BKFC is in a similar place to where the UFC was in its early days. For many MMA fans, it’s even a bit too violent and bloody. However, with time, that perception could change. Conversely, it could also remain the same, and BKFC could tank and shut shop.
However, if they follow the same playbook that White did, the chances of being successful are a lot higher. Regardless, the starting position for BKFC is a lot better than the UFC. It’s in a more mature market when it comes to combat sports, it has the biggest star in MMA backing it, and it has no shortage of funds either.
So, they have all the ingredients for success. The only question is, ‘Can they cook?’
