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BKFC president David Feldman detailed how a deal to make Conor McGregor a co-owner of the promotion came about, and how the UFC might feel about the move.

BKFC held its big annual KnuckleMania event on Saturday night in Los Angeles, and the event couldn’t have gone better. The event marked the promotion’s debut in California, where bare knuckle has finally been licensed by the state commission. Their top star “Platinum” Mike Perry notched another KO win — watch that highlight here. And Conor McGregor was announced as a new part-owner of the promotion.

Not bad for a bloody niche combat sport that spent the majority its first few years in Biloxi, Mississippi.

During the KnuckleMania 4 post-fight press conference, president David Feldman discussed McGregor’s buy-in of the company. No numbers were divulged, but both Feldman and McGregor are clearly excited to be working together.

“You’ve got the guy who has the most viewed movie in Amazon history, right?” Feldman said. “I mean, it wasn’t because of his acting — not that he was bad at acting, but it wasn’t because of his acting, it was because it was Conor McGregor. It wasn’t Jake Gyllenhaal that drove those views. It was Conor McGregor that drove those views.”

“He’s one of the most popular guys in the entire world. He’s one of the most popular and influential combat sports fighters of all time, or personalities of all time. I mean, you tell me. You get a guy like that, anything he touches turns to gold. I want that Midas touch for us, so we brought it over.”

The partnership started up a year ago when McGregor showed up in person to watch Mike Perry destroy Luke Rockhold’s teeth in the main event of BKFC 41.

“He jumped in the ring, he called out Mike Perry, you know, in fun,” Feldman recounted. “And one thing led to another. We partnered with his beer, Forged Irish Stout, and they became a sponsor of us. And he fell in love with this. We had some unbelievable conversations, some great ideas already exchanging.”

“It was funny. I was telling my wife, I was dying for Conor McGregor to call me. Now the guy won’t stop calling me. It’s unbelievable, he is so excited about this thing. I really think it just completely takes us to the next level.”

One member of the press asked what Feldman thought UFC CEO Dana White would think of the deal.

“Listen, Dana White has a juggernaut with the UFC,” Feldman said. “I mean, Conor McGregor certainly moves the needle for him, but he’s very, very successful without him. Not that he’s fighting for us, but him promoting our product … who knows? You’re probably a little mad. Your number one star is gonna talk about a different company, so you’re probably not very happy about it.”

“But he’s not worried about us. Not yet.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jairzinho Rozenstruik is getting back to his roots.

Recently, Rozenstruik scored a fourth-round TKO over Shamil Gaziev in the main event of UFC Vegas 87. Though Rozenstruik entered the bout as the betting underdog, “Bigi Boi” says he and his team had a precise game plan to upend the previously undefeated Gaziev and that it worked to perfection.

“The work that we had and the game plan that we had was exactly what we wanted to accomplish,” Rozenstruik said on The MMA Hour. “Going forward, we kind of knew from the third round, he doesn’t want to fight anymore.

“From a cardio standpoint, the damage he took in the previous round. In the third round, we already knew, OK, after the third round he was already complaining to his corner. So while we were talking, I was getting instructions, we were keeping an eye on him so we knew where to put the pressure.”

Ultimately, Gaziev was unable to answer the bell for the fifth round, and Rozenstruik picked up his eight win inside the octagon. It was a critical victory for Rozenstruik, who had lost five of his previous eight fights before Saturday, who says that was just the first step in a process which he believes will get him back to the form he showed in his early UFC run when was close to fighting for a title.

“Right now I’ve made a lot of changes in my staff and my self, personally,” Rozenstruik said. “I feel like after the Overeem fight I was navigating away from my power source, which is Suriname. So right now I’m taking a couple of steps back, go back home, recalibrate, reconnect with Suriname, get myself together, and this was a small piece of what I accomplished in my journey that I just started a few months ago.”

The only current UFC fighter from Suriname, Rozenstruik lives in Florida and trains out of American Top Team, and while he intends to continue with ATT, Bigi Boi said he’s taking a trip home where he can recharge and return to his best form.

“That’s my real power source. Going back to Suriname, lay down in the river, get my power,” Rozenstruik said. “In Suriname we like to be reconnect with culture. Go into the river, lay grounding with the Earth, stuff like that. I feel like I was losing my power, navigating my true self, which brought me to this higher level. I feel like I need to gain that again. … Take some rest, get away from everything, go into the jungle, lay down in the river that’s one of the main things. Grounding and connecting with the Earth, that’s one of the main things I used to do. It brings me relaxation, it brings me everything. It makes me relaxed in everything, also in my personal life. I haven’t done it in a while and I feel like my soul is asking for that.”

But despite being away from his power source and his middling record in recent years, it hasn’t been all bad for Rozenstruik. Over the past five years, Bigi Boi headlined six UFC cards, more than every current UFC champion besides Jon Jones and Leon Edwards. That’s a pretty big accomplishment for a boy from Paramaribo, and one that Rozenstruik is proud of.

“I didn’t know that going into the fight and then while I was at Fight Week media day, everybody started talking about it so I paid a little bit closer attention to that,” Rozenstruik said regarding his headlining numbers. “But I’m happy that the UFC sees the main event caliber in me and they know I can bring the main event action. That’s a plus for me as a person and also as a fighter.”

And those pluses will likely keep coming. Rozenstruik has headlined five of his past seven bout and given the promotion’s need for headliners, there’s a good chance his next fight will also be that, which would be more than fine for Rozenstruik as he tries to mount a title run.

“For me, I don’t like to call names,” Rozenstruik said. “But everybody that ranks above me, especially guys I haven’t fought yet, make sense for me. For example, I haven’t fought [Serghei] Spivac, Tom [Aspinall], Tai Tuivasa is a good one. There are one or two more up there I haven’t fought. Derrick [Lewis]. All those guys are good fighters and definitely a main event in that one would be amazing.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Sharing words of encouragement to former lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira off the back of his contentious decision defeat at UFC 300 this month, light heavyweight titleholder, Alex Pereira has urged the Brazilian to take some inspiration from his ability to rebound from his KO loss to Israel Adesanya just a year ago.

Oliveira, the current number two ranked lightweight contender, featured on the main card of UFC 300 earlier this month alongside Brazilian compatriot, Pereira – himself dropping a controversial split decision defeat to surging contender, Arman Tsarukyan.

Going close with a trio of guillotine choke, armbar, and D’Arce choke submission wins – ultimately to no avail in a decision loss, Sao Paulo finishing star, Oliveira his case for a victory in place of Tsarukyan’s wrestling display in their title-eliminator.

Alex Pereira encourages Charles Oliveira after UFC 300 loss

Vowing to return triumphantly off the back of his narrow decision setback, Oliveira, the promotion’s most prolific finishing force, was backed and defended by his countryman, Pereira – who urged the ex-lightweight champion to carry on and continue, taking inspiration from his own defeats.

“I’ve been through this,” Alex Pereira told Laerte Viana about Charles Oliveira’s decision loss at UFC 300. “He [Charles Oliveira] has to see if he made a mistake (against Arman Tsarukyan). Sometimes we lose, but not because we made a mistake. He has to see if there will be changes, do something different.”

“Nobody knows what he’s going through outside the world of fighting, too,” Pereira said of Charles Oliveira. “The important thing is for him to know if there is something to correct and try to fix it somehow.” 

Insisting the lion inside of him is “still hungry” despite his decision blemish to Tsarukyan, Oliveira weighed up his options including rematches against fellow card features, Justin Gaethje – and more particularly, Max Holloway, suggesting a future BMF championship rematch with the Hawaiian off the back of his emphatic victory.

Who would you like to see Charles Oliveira fight in his return?

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Bogdan Guskov isn’t changing his all-or-nothing style anytime soon.

Saturday’s UFC Vegas 91 co-main event saw Guskov add to his impressive collection of knockouts with a second-round hammering of Ryan Spann. The fast-rising light heavyweight has now won back-to-back fights by knockout, and none of his 16 pro victories have gone to the scorecards.

Afterward, Guskov told reporters that he expects his fan-friendly style to keep him in the good graces of the UFC matchmakers.

“I think maybe the UFC, give me this chance,” Guskov said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference when asked how soon he might fight for a title. “Big appreciate, big opportunity for me. Thank you for [UFC President Dana White], thank you Mick Maynard, thank you.

“I try, from my side, I want to show a big show every time. I’m not loving boring fights. No grappling match, no point match. I love blood and the show.”

Spann almost didn’t let Guskov show off his exciting style. The first round of their fight saw Spann wrestle Guskov against the fence, nail him with a couple of low blows, and pummel him on the ground with strikes. There almost wasn’t a second round, but Guskov showed enough defense to make it past the five-minute mark.

According to “Czarevitch,” his team expected Spann to start strong and then fade.

“Before the fight, we have a small plan,” Guskov said. “Give the first round for this guy to work, because in the second round, he seemed a little bit tired and [became] a very simple fighter, and finish him in second round. This [was] my goal, my plan [from] my team.”

Spann was No. 14 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings heading into Saturday’s event and Guskov will likely claim a top-15 spot in the UFC’s official rankings when that list is next revised. If that happens, Guskov will be the first fighter from Uzbekistan to have a number next to his name.

Along with compatriots Nursulton Ruziboev and Makhmud Muradov, Guskov is part of a trio of talented Uzbek fighters that he believes can convince the UFC to bring a show to their home country.

“One day, I hope the UFC comes to Tashkent, from Uzbekistan,” Guskov said. “Really, I want to fight [there]. We have three fighters from Uzbekistan and maybe we make a good show. Because from Uzbekistan, a lot of fans, and very strong fans, I love them. I want to give a show live, not only TV, because a lot of guys watch TV [in another time zone]. It’s very late now [in Uzbekistan], but a lot of people watching me. If we open my social media now, oy oy oy.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts