Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the uber-successful throwback/rethought combat sport that has taken the world by storm since its debut in 2018 has spawned a litany of bare-knuckle promotions across the country, and with good reason, this sport kicks ass!
BKFC has been very successful in the sunshine state, hosting 6 events here, with 2 more slated for this summer (June 26th and July 23rd) which would give them 8 total out of their 19, (after July) in other words, BKFC has cemented themselves somewhat as a Florida promotion, and we in the combat sports community are glad they are here.
One of the knocks however has been that due to state regulations, fighters were required to wear a modified glove, and to tape up their hand and wrist up to, but not covering the knuckles. Both the glove and the tape while not exactly allowing “pure” no protection bare-knuckle action, did allow the athlete’s knuckles to be exposed. Many pundits felt that because of the regulations imposed by the Florida Boxing Commission, that we weren’t actually seeing true bare-knuckle fighting take place. I disagree, and if you had the opportunity to attend an event, or watch online, you could clearly see that the knuckles were bare, and the results of that were clear as day to the naked eye.
Well, we will no longer have to worry about that anymore here in Florida as the state has taken action, and new legislation is in place and expected to be signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis any day, as this new law is slated to go into effect starting July 1st of this year.
Introducing Florida Senate Bill 1966. This new legislation basically states that the wearing of any type of protection on the hands i.e. gloves or no gloves, for bare-knuckle fights will now be solely in the hands of the boxing commission. Essentially making the requirements of the modified glove and taping obsolete. This is something that the commission has been working to make happen since the first time BKFC held an event here in Florida, and I applaud their willingness, and diligence to make this happen as quickly as possible.
As I stated above, and according to a source close to the situation, Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign this bill into law any day. Until he does, all events will still have to follow the mandate of the modified glove and tape. So BKFC 18 on June 26th in Hollywood will be contested as all events in the past. However, on July 23rd, at BKFC 19 in Tampa, a new day in bare-knuckle fighting history in the state of Florida begins, and the true vision of BKFC President David Feldman will be on full display, as the purest form of combat sports in the world today!
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.