“We Have the Best Combat Sports Athletes…”: Amid Low TUF Viewership BKFC President Eyes a “Major TV” Agreement After $2,100,000,000 UFC-ESPN Deal

There used to be a time when there were only a few countable combat sports promotions in this world. But, with the massive growth in the popularity of combat sports, today numerous promotional organizations hosting combat sports events have entered the picture. Apart from the premier promotions like UFC and WWE, a number of other organizations are also gaining healthy amounts of viewership recently.

The Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship or BKFC is one such promotion, which has created a name for itself. Signing in a chunk of former UFC athletes, the ‘Philadelphia-based promotion’ has seen a meteoric rise in just five years of its existence. Recently, the famed BKFC president, David Weldman talked to ‘TMZ’ and revealed their plans to promote themselves to an even larger group of the population. He also mentioned how he had faced numerous challenges on the pathway to making the BKFC what it is today.

David Feldman revealed his UFC-styled plans to gain even more viewership

Most combat sports fans know that the UFC president Dana White also created his own MMA-based reality TV show, ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. Further, it has also collaborated with the sports coverage giants ‘ESPN’ for getting their events on air. The current deal between the two was settled at the cost of around $300M. A huge chunk of fans might also agree that these additional ventures have often provided the UFC with considerable amounts of viewership.

In his recent interview with ‘TMZ’ Feldman implied that they were interested in the UFC’s promotional method. He also said, “We’re going to have a reality show at the end of ’23, beginning of ’24, and a major TV deal”. It also became apparent that the BKFC president had massive expectations from his future ventures. He stated, “I really certainly think in three to four years from now. We’re in the number two spot in combat sports. I really mean that.“

Moving on, he also revealed that the path to get the BKFC recognized was far from an easy one. Weldman iterated, “A lot of people ask what’s my toughest obstacle that I had to overcome with BKFC, and it was just changing people’s perception on it. Anything but that. We have the best combat sports athletes in the world.”

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Well, achieving a position like the BKFC in just five years of existence is truly a commendable task. Hence, it also may be agreed that Weldman wasn’t too wrong to expect an increase in viewership. But, on the other hand, it was also reported that UFC’s venture for this year was going through some struggles.

The UFC’s TUF 31 was plagued by low viewership

The noted American data measurement firm, Nielsen gave out a startling fact. They reported that this year’s TUF featuring the famed UFC icon, Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler had failed to achieve even half of the viewership that McGregor’s previous season of TUF had achieved.

TUF 31 failed to achieve its expected viewership even with ‘The Notorious’ in it. This might raise a question about how effective these methods would be for the BKFC. But, Weldman seems pretty confident that he will be able to use these methods to boost their viewership.

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Do you think Weldman will actually see a boost in popularity and viewership after applying his mentioned promotional methods?