The hottest thing in combat sports today is David Feldman’s Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship. Feldman brought back bare-knuckle fighting, added a few things and this Philadelphia based promotion has set the combat sports world on fire!
Continuing to sign big names from the MMA world like Hector Lombard, Bigfoot Silva, Gabriel Gonzaga and possibly Wanderlei Silva and Fabricio Werdum, Feldman is continually doing whatever it takes to make his promotion successful, profitable, and entertaining to the fans.
Last week on the Cage Side with Christopher James show we spoke with BKFC President David Feldman after another successful event, BKFC8 took place in Tampa on October 19th at the Florida State Fairgrounds.
We spoke about the event itself, and how happy Feldman has been with the growth of this promotion and the acquisition of fans that are truly helping drive this sport to the forefront in the combat sports world.
When I asked Feldman a question about some changes that I had heard were on the horizon, he gladly answered the questions with a smile on his face.
One of the questions I was really excited about asking was changing championship fights from five 2 minute rounds to seven 2 minute rounds. Feldman confirmed that what I had heard was true and that they are going to be making all championship fights 7 rounds instead of 5 starting in 2020. Making the fight for the athletes a little more challenging, and for the fans giving them a little more bang for the buck if you will. Who in their right mind would say no to more action inside the bare-knuckle squared circle? Absolutely nobody!
However, Feldman also dropped a bomb on me that I didn’t expect. He brought up the topic of fights ending in a draw and how much he, the fighters and the fans hate that. After all this is combat in its purest form so we should always have a winner and unfortunately a loser, that’s just part of the sport in general.
If Feldman has his way then draws at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship will be eliminated if he can get state athletic commissions to approve a “sudden death” round in the event of a draw. It will be a winner take all round, and that’s it. The original scores on the judge’s cards would go out the window and the 2 athletes that were about to be announced as having fought to a draw will go to battle for one more round and whoever wins that round, wins the fight. Just like bare-knuckle fighting itself being deemed the purest form of combat sports, it makes sense that the sudden death round would be just that, one round and whoever wins that round wins the fight. A decision that is pure in nature just like the sport it would take place in.
I’ve spoken to a few fighters on the roster and they are all in for both 7 championship round fights and a sudden death round in the event that a fight would be ending in a draw. When it comes to the sudden death round the fighters are really excited about it because in combat sports wins are everything, they elevate you up the rankings, get you title shots, and bigger paychecks at the end of the day. Nobody wants the loser’s paycheck, and in the event of a draw, it basically means both fighters take home the losers check.
This to some may seem like no big deal adding a sudden death round, but to the athletes who benefit from a win, this is a big deal and something that works in the favor of the fighter. How often do promoters do things to benefit the fighters and at the same time by doing so take a piece out of their bottom line? The answer to that question is nobody or very very few.
David Feldman, however, is not your average promoter. He’s been a fighter, so he knows the struggle and as a promoter, he tries to continually do things to let his fighters know that they are all in this together.
I for one am excited and hopeful that Feldman will be able to get athletic commissions across the nation to buy into his sudden death round philosophy that he wants to implement.
Many people said he would never be able to get bare-knuckle fighting approved in the United States of America, yet here we are approaching their 9th event and they aren’t going anywhere.
So go ahead and doubt Feldman on his quest to add the sudden death round, it’s just the motivation he needs to get it done.
Christopher James has been in the MMA industry for 15 years, Working as a ring announcer for promotions like the XFC, Island Fights, Combat Night and Fight Nights Global during his career. Chris’ love for the sport and the athletes that partake in it led him to writing and doing face to face interviews with the athletes he admired and respected. Chris isn’t conventional by any stretch of the imagination, he has his own style, and takes pride in not being a “cookie-cutter” member of the media. Unique and sometimes controversial takes are what he brings to the table, forcing folks to think a little differently about the world of MMA. He also has a love for music as he has been a dj for 25 years and his love for music gets brought to the MMA world when he gets his guests to sing on his weekly show Cage Side with Christopher James which can be seen Wednesday nights on FACEBOOK LIVE, and soon via podcast.