Conor McGregor: BKFC Better Option for Ex-UFC Fighters Than Rival MMA Promotions

Conor McGregor believes Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is a better place for former Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes than other mixed martial arts promotions.

McGregor Sports and Entertainment became part owner of BKFC earlier this year. Explaining his interest in the organization, McGregor said he sees the MMA promotions space as kind of saturated with the UFC established as a clear industry leader.

According to McGregor, the BKFC is an entirely different space that generates more interest than rival MMA promotions of the UFC. McGregor noted that former UFC fighters fighting for rival MMA promotions often fail to generate much buzz. Compared to that, “Notorious” finds BKFC fights featuring UFC alums like Mike Perry, Eddie Alvarez and others much more entertaining.

“We’ve got the UFC as the premier mixed martial arts organization and the rest of them aren’t really anything right, let’s be real. The rest of them, their best events are past fighters of the UFC maybe fighting each other or maybe fighting someone in the mid-level. It doesn’t really generate mega buzz for me, or for the fans, judging by the numbers,” McGregor recently told The MacLife. “Let’s take Justin Gaethje who’s a UFC veteran, former BMF holder… interim belt [holder]. Take him, let’s put him in bareknuckle, that’s exciting. That is really, really exciting. Now let’s take him and put him in another MMA organization, not so much.”

McGregor also assures that the UFC is extremely happy about his partnership with the BKFC, as it immediately took out any possible element of competition.

“It’s different, it actually blends well with the UFC, which I’m very very happy about,” he said. “And I believe it’s music to the ears of the Ultimate Fighting Championship that I am part of this. It just dissolves the competition. It has popped the UFC’s competition like a balloon, it deflated it like a popped balloon.”

While they only recently partnered, McGregor has been dabbling in the BKFC for a while now. The former UFC double champ attended an event last year where he faced off with BKFC superstar Perry. McGregor’s Forged Irish Stout and Proper 12 Whiskey were also sponsors for the BKFC card where their partnership was announced. The Irishman revealed that the biggest hook for him was the matchmaking in the promotion, for which he credits company president Dave Feldman.

“I’ll tell you what I fell in love with with the bareknuckle, was the matchmaking. The matchmaking from [Dave] Feldman has been stellar,” McGregor said. “Really, really incredible matchmaking. That event alone, Luke Rockhold and Mike Perry and [Eddie] Alvarez and [Chad] Mendes, that’s great matchmaking. Now we had a Perry and MVP, we had some great matches on the card.”

McGregor is set to return to action after a three-year hiatus against Michael Chandler (23-8) in the main event at UFC 303 UFC 303 on June 29.