Dana White has lost the race to Italy, it seems! With the UFC teasing a possible fight at the Colosseum, it seemed certain that we’d get some solid developments soon. However, it looks like Conor McGregor had swooped in to give viewers what they were waiting for. But before we get to the meat of the story…

For the unversed: It was the UFC CEO himself who had first revealed that the iconic Rome-based location was in the plans. And it wasn’t just any fight. It would reportedly be the fight of the century, where Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and X CEO Elon Musk would trade blows. In a conversation on the Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast, White had stated in August this year, “We were talking about the Colosseum for that fight, and I actually did have a meeting with the Minister of Culture’s team in Italy to actually hold that fight in the Colosseum if it would happen.”

“‘Think about how big that fight is. Two of the richest, most powerful guys in the f***ing world are gonna fight on the biggest stage ever. Everybody would [pay for it]. Who the f*** doesn’t wanna see that fight? Who doesn’t wanna see that fight? Everybody would watch it. That’s the kind of fight your f***ing grandmother would watch that fight. It’s huge. Trump would have to fight Putin for it to be bigger than that,” the 55-year-old had said further.

Well, that would definitely make history. For starters, the Colosseum, a 2,000-year-old amphitheater, is one of the world’s seven wonders, and doesn’t open its doors to shows any less than iconic. Once able to seat somewhere between 50,000 to 87,000 people, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, can now accomodate only 400 people on temporary seating, due to its ruined state.

Notably, the last time any event happened inside the Colosseum was in 2006 (Billy Joel). Additionally, Elton John (2005), Ray Charles (2002), and Paul McCartney (2003) had also performed—audiences had to pay $1,500 for an exclusive charity show by The Beatles singer. Having said that, four months have passed since White promised us the iconic event, and so far further updates have been scarce. But that doesn’t mean McGregor couldn’t take a leaf out of White’s book, which is exactly what he did.

As per an update by the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship—where ‘Mystic Mac’ is part-owner—on December 27, the promotion will be headed across the pond. Well, it’s not the Colosseum, but an equally legendary monument. In April 2025, BKFC, which calls itself “the fastest growing combat sport promotion in the world”, would step into the Roman Amphitheater of Florence. The announcement on Instagram read, “Where ancient gladiators once clashed, a new generation of fighters will return! [fist emoji] 🇮🇹 BKFC is bringing true fighting BACK to Italy!” Needless to say, the $411 million worth venture would surely grow in the land of the gladiators, don’t you think? 

As, as expected, ‘The Notorious’ left no stone unturned in promoting the event and attracting attention left, right and center. He shared BKFC’s post on his IG Story and captioned it with an Italian flag emoji. The former UFC double champion also took his excitement to X, sharing a poster with a wrapped fist jotting out of a skyline of Florence in the background. The poster had a pretty rustic look, with the words ‘COME TO FLORENCE’ inviting the fight fans to book their tickets to the ancient city. McGregor captioned the post, “Welcome to @bareknucklefc.”  

As soon as the announcement was made, the fighting community took to the comments section to reveal their thoughts. Let’s see what the fans had to say.

Conor McGregor raises the entropy of the fight fans with BKFC’s debut in Florence

The announcement has left even BKFC fighters enthralled. Bare-knuckle fighter Kai Stewart wrote, “Nice. That looks like a show fit for the KING 😎”. Notably, Stewart is the current Featherweight champion with a perfect 7-0 record in the promotion. The 24-year-old defeated Louie Lopez to win the title at BKFC 44 on June 9 last year by unanimous decision, and also won the Fight of the Night award.

Since then the young star has defended his title a staggering three times by unanimous decision—he won against Howard Davis at BKFC 56 on December 2 last year, Bryan Duran at BKFC 62 on June 21 this year, and Jimmie Rivera on last month at the BKFC on DAZN: Montana.

The venue for BKFC Florence also succeeded in exciting the fighting community to a great extent. One fan commented, “What a perfect location to spill some blood.” Another fan wrote, “Thats actually a great idea!” 

A few fans even had some amazing suggestions for the bare-knuckle fight promotion. A fan wrote, “Please do a preview with the gladiator theme song, if not it’ll be a missed opportunity.” However, there were some fans who were a bit confused. BKFC is set to host an event at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, on 4 April 2025. But now, Conor McGregor has announced the entry of the promotion in Italy. Weighing in on this, a fan wrote, “Okay okay yall are killing me! Dubai and Italy in the same month!?” But there were no responses to this comment yet.

McGregor’s post on X also received some high-energy replies. One fan pointed out, “Italy’s got some real fighters now!” Meanwhile, another fan provided the organization with a new destination. The comment read, “Next stop Greece Champ.” But the excitement around the announcement was palpable. One of the fans wrote, “Time to Knuckle up!” Another fan added, “Can’t wait for this one,” followed by a 1 emoji.

Are you excited to see the bare-knuckle fighters battle like the gladiators? Drop down to the comments below and let us know what you think.