Latest / King Dems Podcast | Growth Mindset, Leadership, AI and Business Insights / Ep. 14 with David Feldman (founder and president of BKFC)

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Ep. 14 with David Feldman (founder and president of BKFC) · King Dems Podcast | Growth Mindset, Leadership, AI and Business Insights

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Let's go. This is a lifetime lesson, so
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start now. OK, we're live on the kingdom's
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forecast today. I have with me a very important
2:16
guest. He's somebody who I look up to
2:19
you. And he is the president of the
2:23
Bannock Fighting Championship. Please break.
2:26
Welcome David Feldman. How are you, David?
2:28
I'm doing well, my man. How are you?
2:31
I'm OK. I'm OK.
2:32
Thank you very much for honouring the invitation to the
2:35
King James Podcast. So you are a very busy man.
2:38
Let's get down to brass tacks real quick.
2:40
So the very first question I asked people on the podcast is
2:43
how this childhood, you know, how was childhood and growing up
2:47
for them, you know, that you understand, you know, the basic
2:51
fundamental personality. So for you, what was childhood
2:55
like and what was going up for like you?
2:58
Say that question one more time, I'm sorry.
3:01
I was like, what was your childhood like?
3:04
Like, Ohh, who were your childhood heroes?
3:06
Who were childhood influences? So how How did your childhood
3:10
influence you as a person? Yeah, I had a Honestly, my
3:15
childhood is the reason why I succeed right now because I
3:17
actually had a very bad childhood and things didn't go
3:20
the way they were supposed to go for me.
3:22
And you know, I dealt with a lot of stuff through my childhood
3:26
years and took me out a long time to figure out how to
3:34
overcome the the setbacks and the obstacles that I had as a
3:39
child and some of the some of the things that happened in my
3:42
childhood and to turn them around and use them as a driving
3:46
force. And that's why, really.
3:49
Why, you know, I'll never quit and I'll never stop this because
3:53
I was told I was supposed to stop.
3:56
I was told I was never going to be anything.
3:57
I was told I was, you know, I shouldn't be anything in life.
4:00
And as you know, I went through a lot of stuff as a child and as
4:06
I got into adulthood, it carried over with me.
4:09
And then when I was able to turn that all around and use it as a
4:13
driving force, my whole life changed.
4:14
And, you know, I just see things through a more positive light
4:19
and understand that, you know, bad things that happen to you
4:22
can turn into really good and can turn into really good and
4:25
make you want to do really good for other people as well.
4:28
You know, because you don't want other people to go through some
4:30
of the things that you went through.
4:31
And that's why, really, just why I'll never quit.
4:35
Like, that's why I'll probably be very successful in this just
4:39
because I won't quit. And I'm going to find a way to
4:42
make this the best thing in the world.
4:44
And, you know, it's on its way to get there.
4:47
It's got a long way to go, but we're not going to stop until we
4:50
get there. Wow, fantastic.
4:52
You know, I like I was telling you before we hit the record
4:54
button, right. I look up to you a lot and
4:56
themes that resonate with you that that that also resonate
5:01
with me is that positive energy. I I see the positive energy in
5:07
you. I see the speed of
5:09
determination, resilience, right, that never give up spirit
5:12
at it is very, very fantastic. And you know you also give hope.
5:17
You inspire other people to to do better in life and it's great
5:22
to to speak with you. So can you actually take us back
5:25
to your early days? You know your early career and
5:28
like, what inspired you to become heavily involved in
5:31
combat sports? I actually was born into it.
5:34
My father was a professional boxer and then turned into
5:37
training seven world champions. My mother got seriously injured,
5:44
has a lot of bad stuff happened to her and she ended up in a
5:49
wheelchair and was a quadriplegic, paralysed from her
5:52
neck down. And my dad then turned our house
5:55
kind of into a training camp where a lot of the fighters just
5:57
came into the house and and lived with us all through my
6:00
childhood years. So I've been around combat
6:02
sports my whole life. I turned into a professional
6:05
boxer and then I started promoting fights in my late 20s.
6:12
I kind of didn't really like it, to be honest with you.
6:15
I didn't like the people in the business.
6:17
It was the wrong kind of people there.
6:18
And I'm going to get to that later as I explained why I why I
6:23
started bearing uncle. But you know, I just, I I then
6:28
started promoting boxing matches with my brother.
6:31
We partnered on some stuff and then I started in the mixed
6:34
martial arts and did some more boxing and then I just wanted to
6:39
do something different. And that's where I get into this
6:41
is I wanted to create a sport that wasn't infected at all,
6:45
right. It didn't have the bad people in
6:48
it that are in these other sports that are in it for the
6:50
wrong reasons, that are in it just for money and just to see
6:53
what they can take off. The athletes, you know,
6:56
obviously want to make money with this business.
6:58
I I certainly do want to spread it around though and I want
7:01
everybody to be treated fair. And I'm not saying I want to
7:04
change the whole world in combat sports, meaning I can't change
7:08
everything about how you know, fighters are paid and fighters
7:11
are treated. But I just feel like you should
7:13
make them a part of the team and treat them right.
7:15
And that's kind of why we started our own thing And and
7:19
the vision that we had was to create something very, very
7:22
exciting, very fast pace for today's society.
7:25
As we know today's society, they're always looking for, you
7:28
know, to look at something for two minutes and then look at
7:31
something else and then look at something.
7:32
Else like viral moments. Gave them those, well, we say is
7:37
the Ohh shit moment. We gave them the Ohh shit moment
7:40
and we gave them really fast-paced stuff.
7:43
And you know, we treat the fighters good, man.
7:46
We make them a part of the company.
7:47
We make them our money with sponsorships, with selling the
7:52
the pay per views, with selling tickets with a lot of different
7:55
avenues and you know we just try to we we try to treat everybody
7:59
right and you know I live by do the right thing, right.
8:03
Like, I'm not saying, you know, give all your stuff away and do
8:07
that. But if you're questioning should
8:09
I do it this way or do it that way, then I just say do the
8:13
right thing, right. Say it to my people all the
8:15
time. What do you think is right?
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And they go, well this way, but then it's going to cost us this.
8:19
I said, but which way is right? And they'll tell them and
8:22
they'll say this way and I'll say do it that way then because
8:26
it'll always work out for you in the end.
8:28
It might not work out for you that minute, but in the end
8:31
it'll always work work out for you.
8:33
Do the right thing. Wow, interested.
8:36
A quick one. Have you actually taken the 16
8:38
personality test? No.
8:42
OK, I think you should take that test, right?
8:43
Because when I took the test I recently and one of the
8:47
characteristics that except my personality has is you are
8:52
always willing to stand up for the right thing, even when it is
8:55
difficult, even when it is challenging.
8:57
And I see that actually resonates with you as well,
8:59
right? It's a lot of time.
9:01
Standing up for the right thing is not the popular opinion, but
9:05
when you sign up for the right thing, in the end you discovered
9:07
that it actually pays off in the long run, right?
9:11
That was something that my dad, but he said, you, you know, when
9:16
we're just growing up, he's like, do the right thing.
9:19
You know, I would ask him, should I do this or should I do
9:21
that? Do the right thing.
9:22
Do the right thing. Do the right thing.
9:24
Do the right thing. It's not easy.
9:25
It's not easy all the time. It's not the fastest way.
9:28
Not to store this way, but at the end of the road.
9:31
And that's really where success comes in, right?
9:34
You have to have a vision to see to the end of the road.
9:37
Because as you're driving down that long road and it's dark and
9:40
it's rainy and you can't see where you're going and you're
9:43
going to get tired and you're going to say, man, I keep
9:46
driving, I don't see the end of the road.
9:47
Or should I stop and turn around and quit and turn around and
9:51
it's you have to have the patience to get to the end of
9:54
the road. And if you have the patience to
9:55
get to the end of the road, you succeed.
9:58
And if you succeed, it's because you did the right thing.
10:00
You did what you're supposed to do, and you put the time and the
10:03
work in, and you have to be able to see to the end of the road
10:06
you really do. Because if you don't see to the
10:08
end of the road, you don't have to get all the way to the end of
10:10
the road. Always.
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But if you can't see to the end of the road, you won't be
10:13
successful. Interesting.
10:16
So one thing I really buy about you and your organisation is the
10:21
fact that you place a lower priority on taking care of the
10:25
fighters, right? Because this guy is simply for
10:27
you. People like Mike Perry, people
10:30
like Lorenzo Horns, right? They always speak the good word
10:35
about BKFC saying how you have changed their lives, how you you
10:41
have put their money up, right? You have actually changed their
10:45
money game, right? How?
10:46
How does he do for you, knowing that you actually change
10:49
people's lives and they're always speaking good about you?
10:53
Like how? How does it feel for you?
10:55
I mean, it's awesome, but it's again, it's do the right thing.
10:57
Now. Listen, I'm not a sucker either.
11:00
I'm not just paying everybody good money.
11:02
That's not helping me. The guys that are want to push
11:05
this sport and talk about it and help it and blow it up.
11:08
Those are the guys that are going to going to make the money
11:10
here. The guys that are drawn in the
11:11
views that are getting people to watch this thing, they get
11:14
people to buy tickets. Those are the people that we're
11:16
going to do the right thing for them, not just like an open
11:19
wallet and say, hey, here, take this doing the right thing for
11:23
us. Again, it goes back to do the
11:25
right thing if they're doing the right thing, and we're going to
11:27
do the right thing. So do the right thing, promote
11:30
it right, Talk good about us, do everything the right way.
11:33
And then you're going to get taken care of.
11:35
And yeah, look, it feels great when people say, man, I was
11:38
going to do this and, you know, I was depressed or I
11:42
contemplated, you know, not even going on in life because life
11:45
was going so bad for me. And I met you and I fought for
11:49
you and you changed my life. I mean, it's amazing.
11:51
It's an amazing feeling. Interested.
11:55
Interested. So one thing that might as well
11:57
about you, you and your organisation is about you
11:59
getting focused on your organisation.
12:01
Unlike you know other presidents or other, you know executives or
12:05
other of other fighting championships, they like to
12:08
compare themselves with other people, right?
12:10
We see other promotions. For example, I am a strong, a
12:13
diehard enemy fan for example. I see how the other guys try to
12:16
compare themselves with the UFC, right?
12:19
You are not the UFC, you are you so focused on you, right?
12:23
I see you are like the forefront of they're not fighting right
12:26
now. And other guys, I tried to
12:29
compare themselves with you. How do you feel when these guys,
12:32
you know, try to talk out with you just to make themselves feel
12:35
good? Does that feel?
12:39
You know, it's we just focus on ourselves.
12:41
I, you know, I had a meeting with Dana White a couple weeks
12:43
ago and. I saw, I saw that.
12:46
I saw a picture of data. How did he go?
12:49
Yeah, I mean, I'm not gonna talk about a lot of things we talked
12:51
about, but it was I found out a lot about him.
12:54
Great guy, smart, like knows what he's doing.
12:57
He he blew this thing up. He's got a lot of great ideas
13:00
and he and he's actually a real good guy, man.
13:02
He's a good guy. But but what are we talking
13:05
about is I said, you know we talked about some of my numbers
13:08
and where I was going and I said he he was like, wow, that's
13:11
pretty good. I said I just focus on myself.
13:13
I don't compare myself to you. I said a lot of people say I'm
13:16
the next day and William the next, this on the next day and I
13:19
go, man, that's a compliment, right?
13:22
As far as growing in combat sports businesses, they're
13:26
comparing me to the best. You know, that's an amazing
13:28
thing. When what you said is these
13:30
other guys that want to talk bad about me and things like that,
13:33
you know, that's OK let them talk bad.
13:35
It's it's all part of the game. You know, focus on yourself,
13:39
focus on your goal, stay in your lane, right.
13:41
And that's what we do. We we focus on our only
13:44
competition. We we feel is is ourselves.
13:47
Are we going to put a better show on than we did last time?
13:49
Are we going to treat the guys better than we did last time?
13:52
Are we going to get better fighters in your organisation
13:54
And we did the fight before and as long as we keep doing that
13:57
we're going to keep growing and we're and you know, I don't see
13:59
an end in and end in in in in the near future for us at all.
14:05
Interested. So Ben Hockley is actually quite
14:08
unique, you know, and it's relatively like a new T-shirt in
14:12
terms of promotion because apparently it has a long
14:15
history, right. But then in terms of, you know,
14:17
packaging something into a proper promotion and you know,
14:21
serving it to to the compatible audience, right.
14:24
So we're really inspired you to start, you know, that promotion
14:28
which is focused on just bare knuckle fighting.
14:30
What was inspiration really? I just wanted to do something
14:34
different. I wanted to create something
14:36
different. Knew that promoting mixed
14:38
martial arts and promoting boxing, I would be a me too.
14:41
I would be another organisation that was doing what everybody
14:43
else did. And to succeed in something like
14:46
that, you need millions and millions and millions and
14:48
millions of dollars to do that. And I didn't have that.
14:50
So I said, let's create something new, create something
14:53
different, create something that is, this is the keyword is
14:57
relatable. It's relatable to everybody in
14:59
the world because, look, you're an MMA fan.
15:02
If you weren't, and I went up to you and I said, do you know what
15:04
a UMA Pilata is? You'd probably go.
15:07
No. Do you know what A dark.
15:08
Joke. No kidding, right?
15:13
Most people don't. But yeah, most people do not
15:16
know those. Technical terms, man, woman,
15:18
child, adult, black, white, Chinese.
15:22
Doesn't matter how old you are. If I ask you, do you know what a
15:26
bare knuckle punch is? Every single person in the world
15:29
knows what it is. That's why it's so relatable.
15:31
So I wanted to create something relatable that the people could
15:34
understand and it was easy for them to know.
15:38
And now, you know, we're just putting on, I think, some of the
15:41
best fights out there. And you know, we created our own
15:44
line. We just created our own sport,
15:45
our own lane, and that's why we really don't have a lot of
15:48
competition. The only thing we really compete
15:51
with some other organisations over is fighters, but we're not
15:53
really competing with them on views and things like that
15:55
because we're different. Ohh, wow.
15:59
Interested. So anyways, in Business School
16:02
there, there was some strategy that I learned.
16:05
It's called the blue ocean strategy, right?
16:09
That is contesting in uncontested market spaces and
16:12
that is exactly what you have done.
16:14
You created a blue ocean strategy for yourself and of
16:16
course it's really working out well, fantastic work.
16:19
You guys started in 2018, right? That is in June 2018 and now you
16:23
have like 57 numbered events, right?
16:27
Well, our our journey actually started in 2009 is when I tried
16:31
to get illegal. So I started trying to get a.
16:33
Legal. Nine.
16:34
It took me, you know, almost 10 years to get legal.
16:38
And then when I first when I when I finally got illegal, we
16:42
did three fights the first year, five fights the second year, 12
16:44
fight the third year, the third year, 29 fights last year were
16:48
projected to do 42 fights in 2024.
16:53
Ohh wow. So, So what were the biggest
16:54
challenges you face, you know, when establishing Pfc, both in
16:58
terms of the regulatory hurdles gaining acceptance from fans and
17:01
fighters? I think, I think the biggest
17:04
hurdle that I that I faced was really just perception.
17:07
Right when you mentioned Barnacle fighting, people go ohh
17:10
wow brutal. You know what is it a backyard
17:13
street fight? Is it is it in a bar fight?
17:15
No, it's a very well produced, well organised event that has
17:19
some of the best combat sports athletes in the world in it.
17:23
But if they don't watch it, they don't know and they perceive it
17:27
to be something else. So perception me change the
17:31
perception is probably the biggest thing and the biggest
17:33
hurdle and the biggest obstacle that I have to go through, even
17:36
through today it is I have to change everybody's perception.
17:39
But we've done a great job on changing the fans perception and
17:42
really changing the regulatory perception on this.
17:45
Because now that they allow themselves to watch it and
17:48
actually learn about it and educate themselves on it, they
17:51
understand what it is. They understand that the
17:53
injuries aren't as much as they think they are.
17:55
They're not even as much as other combat sports.
17:57
And it's exciting and it's really, really fun to watch.
18:01
And once they allowed himself to educate themselves on that, it's
18:04
it's really game over for us. Interesting.
18:08
So BFC has actually gained significance attention right,
18:11
due to that perception change and of course it has fast-paced
18:16
and intense style right of fighting.
18:18
So how do you see the sporting evolve in the coming years, and
18:21
what role do you envision your organisation playing in the
18:25
broader landscape of combat sports?
18:28
I always say, you know, I think a lot of these interviews I've
18:31
been doing, I think three to five years were definitely the
18:35
number two combat sports promotion in the world.
18:37
You know, we could be the biggest because it's so
18:39
relatable, but you know, it'll be hard to do anything bigger
18:43
than with the UFC's doing. They've created themselves into
18:46
a into a complete juggernaut and they're doing a hell of a job.
18:50
But, you know, people compare us, like I said, to the UFC.
18:53
If we can be half of what the UFC is or 25% of what the UFC
18:57
is, you know, we hit a Grand Slam.
18:59
And I think that's where we end up in the next three years.
19:03
And while interested, Speaking of the years, yeah, I'm actually
19:06
very, very big part of the UFC, right?
19:08
And I have seen a lot of crossovers from the CEO to BKFC,
19:13
so easy. And I saw, you know, White,
19:16
right? So is it possible we have some
19:18
sort of partnership with the UFC at any point in the in the near
19:22
future? I I really don't know.
19:25
I mean, you know, I don't know if that's something that they
19:28
would do. I would do it.
19:29
Absolutely I would. I.
19:32
That's why I'm meeting with all these different owners of these
19:35
bigger organisations, like like the owner from Rizon, Saki
19:39
Gabor. I met with him as well.
19:41
You know, I want to see what we can do.
19:43
I want to see how we can, how we can, you know, kind of not
19:47
everybody work together, but but look, you just saw, I don't know
19:50
if you just saw the big app that's coming out now with all
19:52
the big networks are coming together to create the biggest
19:55
sports app in the world. ESPN, Fox, Turner, they're all
19:59
coming together and they're creating the biggest sports app
20:02
in the world. So why can't some of the big
20:04
combat sports promotions in the world come together and put on
20:07
some of the biggest fights in the world?
20:10
Well, we're interested in Speaking of apps.
20:12
You know the UFC have the UFC Fight Pass.
20:15
Is there like any plan for you to also broadcast your your
20:19
content on on UFC Fight Pass? No, we have our own app, the
20:23
BKFC. We're looking at doing some
20:28
other things with some other major platforms.
20:31
So no, we're not. We're not going to do anything
20:32
with them right now. But you know, you never know
20:37
what. Happened.
20:38
Yeah, yeah, the features were taken, right?
20:41
So you guys will get a lot of attention and popularity in a
20:45
relatively short time. So what do you think sets
20:48
Barnacle Fighting apart from other combat sports?
20:51
And how do you see its place in the future of combat sports
20:54
generally? I think it's just it's it's it's
20:57
exciting, it's the most exciting combat sport out there.
21:00
You know, you can't turn away from it, you can't blink your
21:03
eye, It's fast-paced. Anything can happen in any time
21:05
there. And I think it it really adapts
21:10
and relates to every fan in the world really.
21:13
And I think that we're in a great place right now.
21:17
I mean, we've grown faster than any other combat sports
21:21
organisation has ever grown in in 5 1/2 years.
21:24
So we're in a great spot to really, really expand this thing
21:27
and and and and keep moving and we're excited to do that.
21:32
Well past the brewery, you guys are really, really fast growing.
21:35
You know these just can once again like Ohh, I I don't know
21:39
if you saw my profile right, I am a finance guy, right?
21:42
I'm a chartered accountant, you know, got MBA right.
21:45
So I'm just like a very, very big fan of Compass birds.
21:49
But then I'd like to bring in the business side, I'd like to
21:52
bring in the finance the numbers, right, in order to
21:55
analyse either Compass Sports as well, right.
21:58
So you guys actually like gone through like a lot of
22:01
challenges, right, and seeing the numbers grew, I can in terms
22:07
of the pieces photo, you guys are like a star product, right?
22:11
So sometimes we have you know what, you have the cash cows,
22:14
you have the stars, you have the problem child.
22:16
But then you guys are the stars with the kind of meteoric growth
22:20
that you guys have had, you know, in a very, very short
22:23
period of time. Now as a precedent, you have
22:26
actually encountered like very cylinders and successes, right?
22:30
But then can you actually share a memorable moment or a turning
22:33
point that significantly impacted the trajectory KFC
22:38
right now? Yeah, I think there was a few of
22:41
them. But I think the most important
22:43
moment and most memorable moment was when we did our fight in
22:47
Denver, Co on April 29th of last year and we had two former
22:52
world, two former UFC World champions fighting in the main
22:56
event, Co main event, sold out crowd, our biggest crowd to date
23:00
and we had a special surprise appearance by Conor McGregor,
23:04
came in, got in our ring and challenged Mike Perry.
23:07
I think that that really sent viral moments out to the combat
23:11
sports community. And I think somebody give him
23:13
his belt as well. Yeah, yeah, Lorenzo Hunt, he.
23:17
Actually, Lorenzo Hunt. Lorenzo gave it to him.
23:19
He went in the ring and I think that was a huge turning point
23:22
for us. I think that was a a moment
23:24
where everybody was like man, this is real look like because
23:27
we also had five or six other UFC world champions and six
23:32
boxing world champions in attendance that night.
23:34
So you know when the best fighters in the world are
23:37
watching our organisation, that means a lot to us.
23:40
You know, they could watch anything in the world, but
23:42
they're choosing to watch this and I think that shows the fans
23:46
really what they should be watching at all.
23:48
Wow, fantastic that. That really was a great moment,
23:51
right? But let me put you on the spot.
23:53
I know you are the president, right?
23:55
And I know you love all of your fighters.
23:57
But then if you were to have a Mount Rushmore for BKFC
24:01
fighters, who are those four guys?
24:02
That will be that? Their heads would be there.
24:07
Yeah, you know what? I don't want to answer, but
24:10
somebody asked me that like three years ago when I did it
24:12
and I had like 10 fighters hate me.
24:14
So I'm not sorry, man. I mean, look, honestly, if you
24:21
told me the top ten, I could probably do that, but I can't
24:23
narrow it down to 4. OK, let me talk That lets you
24:26
talk to him. Let you talk to him then?
24:28
There's guys, there's guys that are some of the best fighters
24:32
that I have. There's guys that are needle
24:34
movers as far as popularity. I mean, you obviously got Mike
24:38
Perry, got Eddie Alvarez on there, he got Lorenzo Ohan, got
24:42
Dave Mandel, you've got Reggie Barnett who just got beat.
24:46
You got Christine for real, You got Bret Hart.
24:49
You got all these people that have been with us for a long
24:51
time and are creating a lot of legacy really with us.
24:54
And you know, you, you had Joey Beltron, you had guys on there
24:58
that have been with us for a long time.
24:59
So I don't really just want to name who's who, but I'll tell
25:03
you, man, we've got a lot of great fighters and a lot of
25:05
people that really help mould this thing into what it is
25:08
today, you know, That's gonna be my answer for that.
25:13
The fact that you have the juggernauts there, right?
25:16
Because I think, to be honest, he got me on to be KFC.
25:19
Lorenzo Harts, Like that guy does a really, really great job
25:22
with the high. He's got a really, really
25:27
incredible personality. Basically, Yeah, that guy is.
25:32
That's why you guys still here? Yep, he's a company guy.
25:35
We're going to announce his next fight on Monday.
25:38
Ohh wow. Interested in Monday?
25:40
Interested. I I'd like to have him on the
25:42
podcast as well. Like that guy is fantastic.
25:45
That guy does a really really great job for you guys.
25:48
So as a leader, right. So what what values or
25:52
principles do you prioritise? You know your promotion And how
25:55
do you into differentiate BKFC from the other campus sports
25:59
organisations? You know, it's really like I
26:02
said, do the right thing. But it it's do what you say and
26:05
say what you do, right. If I tell these guys I'm going
26:10
to do something for them, I got to do it.
26:12
And if they tell me they're gonna do something for me, they
26:14
gotta do it, alright? And if I do something, it has to
26:18
be what I said I was going to do.
26:20
I can't do something different from what I said.
26:22
I just just just be who you be who you are and be how you treat
26:29
the people, how you want to be treated.
26:30
I mean it's just life in general, but that's what
26:33
happens. And if I treat these guys right
26:35
and I show them that they're part of the team and I show them
26:38
they're part of the family and show them that are part of the
26:40
growth and I give him a chance to earn extra money at the
26:42
fights. You know with my pre fight
26:44
speeches I always offer bonuses to guys to go out there and
26:48
fight their hardest. I just just, you know, motivate
26:51
these guys. You know, a big thing with me is
26:54
loyalty. But there's, you know, in the
26:56
fight game there's not a tonne of loyalty.
26:58
But I ask these guys to be loyal because they're loyal to me.
27:01
I'm loyal back to them. And you know, just really, truly
27:05
just treat people you want to be treated, man.
27:08
That's really what you got to do.
27:10
Ohh, interested. You know, it actually has a long
27:14
history in terms of the history of combat sports.
27:18
But a lot of people do not realise that pinnacle has a lot
27:20
of history. I remember sometime I think
27:22
Tyson Fury was saying he's from like a lineage of fighters.
27:25
I think 1:00. What if like his grandparents
27:28
was a bare knuckle fighter, right?
27:31
And it's interesting to see what you have actually made of the
27:34
sport in the modern era, right? But there were actually made you
27:38
believe that there was actually a market and an audience for,
27:41
you know, you know, going into these, you know, Converse sports
27:44
landscape where you're competing with, you know, MMA or boxing
27:48
with, you know, other TC planes. Like what actually made you have
27:53
that belief it was actually going to become commercial?
27:56
Because I did it. I did an underground fight back
27:59
in 2008 and I watched these two guys banging it out with each
28:03
other and I left there and I said there's no way that that
28:07
people don't want to see this. It was unbelievable.
28:09
It's the best I've ever seen. Listen, you go to a, you go to a
28:14
a a baseball event, you go to a basketball game, you go to a
28:17
football event and they'll fight breaks out in the crowd.
28:19
Where's everybody look. They look at the fight.
28:22
If you go to a heavyweight championship boxing match and a
28:25
fight breaks out in the crowd, you look at the you look at the
28:27
fight they're fighting with Garden.
28:28
Off you go. Look at that.
28:30
It's just so relatable. Everybody gets it.
28:33
Everybody understands it. And once I really was like, wow,
28:36
man, everybody gets it. They get this.
28:39
They understand what it is. There's not going to be any way
28:42
that this thing isn't isn't as popular.
28:44
The only thing I have, you know, my challenge is doing is getting
28:46
the watch the first time. And once they watched the first
28:49
time, it's over. I mean.
28:52
It's unbelievable, like there's nothing else like it.
28:54
So if you watch it once, you become a a fan for life.
28:59
Well, interesting. So we we have people
29:01
transitioning from traditional boxing, from MMA to Ben Occupy
29:04
fighting. So what kind of adjustments do
29:07
you think this fight is actually need to make in order to be
29:10
successful in the sport? I mean, they got a really learn
29:14
how to pick their shots properly and place them properly.
29:17
You know, they say boxing is the sweet science.
29:20
I say this the sweetest science because you have to really make
29:23
sure you're not hitting people on top of the head and make sure
29:25
you're not hitting their elbows, make sure you're not hitting
29:27
hard surfaces. So they have to really pick
29:30
their shots and they have to condition their hands, right.
29:33
What a lot of people don't know is we actually have less broken
29:36
hands than boxing or MMA and you would never believe that.
29:39
You would think bare knuckle, they're going to break their
29:41
hands left and right, but they really picked their.
29:44
They really take their time and know where they're thrown.
29:46
They don't throw as hard as they would throw with a glove on in
29:50
fear of breaking their hand and because of that they don't break
29:52
their hand as much and we don't cause as much damage.
29:56
Interested. So picking shirts is a very,
29:59
very essential. But then you know it's it's
30:01
interesting to see how people do not cost to vietri Venoco,
30:05
right? In Germany for example, you see
30:08
some people posted the picture. I tell them beforehand, I said.
30:12
Listen, guys, I said. If you go out there, just
30:15
exactly what I say, verbatim. I say, guys, I want you to be
30:19
safe. I want you to respect my
30:23
employees, I want to respect the Commission, I want you to
30:25
respect your opponent and I want you to respect the fans and I
30:29
want you to go out there and fight your ass off.
30:32
And I tell this to him, I said. If you fight your ass off and
30:35
you get knocked out, you come back.
30:38
If you coast to a victory and you win, you don't come back.
30:42
We need exciting fights. We need to go out there and
30:45
fight. And if you go out there and
30:46
fight, you have a job with me forever.
30:48
If you go out there and coast, you don't have a job at all.
30:52
It's just that's why we. I give a chance to.
30:58
Earn extra. Listen, if you go out there,
31:00
look most organisations a fight I give like 10 or 12 performance
31:08
bonus is every fight. Well, that that is massive.
31:13
That is massive really that's and it's until of incentive, the
31:17
biggest incentive basically to me, I don't know, maybe because
31:20
I'm biassed, I'm a finance guy, is the financial incentive
31:23
because what other incentive is, is bigger, right.
31:26
And you know what? When, when, when the fighters
31:28
are incentivized, apparently you know, they they, they stay
31:32
hungry and they always want more, right?
31:36
So, So we've seen like a little crossovers, right?
31:38
Like anime boxing, Like what do you see?
31:41
What do you see going forward? Do you see the?
31:44
Do you see more crossovers happening or?
31:48
I do, but I do. But what I really see is people
31:51
starting out the sport with fair enough now, not just crossing
31:54
over, but do we have a lot of gyms now teaching Barnacle
31:58
fighting. So go into the gyms learning
32:00
Barnacle fighting, training for bare knuckle fighting and
32:03
starting and finishing your career as Barnacle fighter.
32:05
Not necessarily crossing over from boxing or May.
32:08
I don't think that's going to stop.
32:10
I still think all out of boxing and MMA fighters are going to
32:13
crossover. But I think what you're going to
32:15
see here in the next couple of years, a lot of guys actually
32:17
starting their careers just with bare knuckles.
32:22
Wow, interesting. So are you.
32:24
You actually mentioned safety earlier, so how?
32:27
How do you guys prioritise our safety?
32:29
Yeah, for, for the factors. And it it's not that I got you
32:34
know we have 3 or 4 ringside positions at every event are
32:39
Chief Medical Officer. We're one of only two promotions
32:42
in the world that travel a Chief Medical Officer with us.
32:45
So we travel a physician with us to every fight that's our own
32:49
that we have on our payroll. Doctor Don Moosey, unbelievable
32:53
physician, you know he was the president of the Association of
32:56
Ringside Physicians for years. He's a great guy and understands
33:00
this and he knows it's safety is paramount, right.
33:03
You might have a little nick in the corner of a guy's eye and
33:05
he'll go, It's not bleeding. Why you stopping the fight?
33:08
Because my doctor knows that if it cuts a little more it might
33:11
impair your eyelid from ever opening and closing again.
33:14
So we're going to stop the fight.
33:15
He's he's safety is number one for us pre fight medicals making
33:21
sure they're fit to fight and checking them out after they
33:23
fight or are really our number one priorities for BFC.
33:28
Now that I think that that's a really great one.
33:30
You guys have actually featured factors from like various
33:33
backgrounds, different experience levels, like can you
33:36
discuss the scouting and the recruitment process for the
33:38
fighters and what qualities do you actually look out for for
33:41
potential BKFC athletes? At one point.
33:45
Why? What?
33:46
Like you guys have fighters from various backgrounds and
33:50
different experience levels, right?
33:52
But then what's kind of qualities you look out for in
33:56
terms of scouting and recruitment?
33:58
I mean, I got to make sure that they have experience in there.
34:01
I I want to make sure that, you know, I don't have a lot of guys
34:03
that got knocked out a lot. That's not what I'm looking for.
34:06
I'm looking for guys that don't have to be the best slick boxer
34:09
in the world, right? They don't have to be the best
34:12
MMA fighter in the world. They got to be able to throw
34:15
punches really nice professionally.
34:19
They got to be able to take a good punch and they got to have
34:21
the heart to keep going. And that's really what I'm
34:24
looking for. I'm looking for guys.
34:26
I'm not looking for the best technicians in the world.
34:30
I'm looking for the best fighters in the world, the guys
34:32
that want to go out there and just fight.
34:35
And that's really what I'm looking for because that's what
34:37
the fans want to see. And I think in some boxing and
34:40
some MMA matches recently, they're getting cheated out of
34:42
good fights. I just want good fights and I
34:45
think the fans want to see good fights.
34:46
I think they love it in boxing. They love it when two boxes are
34:50
in the middle of the ring exchanging punches.
34:52
In MMA, they love it when two guys are in the senator, senator
34:55
ring banging it out with each other.
34:57
And that's what we do the whole entire fight.
35:00
Interesting. So what?
35:01
What advice do you have for young aspiring fighters that are
35:05
intend to take up the KFC? I mean, look, just don't quit.
35:11
Walk forward. You know, have the guts to, if
35:15
you want to compete, have the guts to walk to the guy,
35:18
exchange punches and don't quit. Now I'm saying you might get
35:22
knocked out. That's OK you you might lose.
35:25
That's OK. If you come and fight hard, you
35:29
know you're in the right place. If if you're not looking to come
35:32
and fight hard and entertain the crowd, then this is probably not
35:34
the promotion for you. It's just so you know, you know,
35:40
successful sports promotion is not just about, you know,
35:44
putting up the fights, right. You also have the marketing,
35:47
sponsorship, building the fan base, the business side
35:50
basically. So how how do you take care of
35:52
the business side as well? It it you, you build a good
35:57
team, you know you you start with a foundation and we started
36:00
with four guys for three years. We became very, very well known
36:04
with only four full time employees and then we opened up
36:08
to a lot more employees. Obviously it's just umm you know
36:12
surround. I always say man and people say
36:15
this in sayings, but it's true for me.
36:18
I never want to be the smartest guy in the room.
36:20
I want to I want a bunch of smart guys around me because
36:22
then I know I'm going to grow my company the right way and that's
36:25
what I always do. I always have a a room full of
36:28
smart guys with me and people that know a lot more about me in
36:31
in their respective trades and that's why I know we're gonna
36:34
blow. While each tested interested, I
36:37
I like, I like somebody who beats a great team, you know,
36:41
has a team of professionals because I'm a professional,
36:44
right? And then you know, I appreciate
36:46
the role of professionals and couldn't see big ups to you.
36:50
Hopefully I should have some partnership with you in the
36:52
future. I don't know what the future
36:54
holds but then I I I would love, I would love for that.
36:58
You know, that's a really, really +1.
37:01
So basically, can you share some, you know, memorable cards?
37:07
Right? Which ones have been your most
37:09
memorable fights? Your most memorable events so
37:12
far in the sport? You know, I I think Christine
37:17
Furia fighting Helen Peralta was one of the best women's fights
37:20
I've ever seen and I think that made people open up a lot of
37:23
eyes. Jason Knight, when he fought
37:25
Artem Lobov, I think a lot of people started really watching.
37:28
Then we had former World Boxing champion Paul Mount Paulie
37:32
Malignaggi fight. I think that really got the
37:33
boxers really talking about us. And then when we signed Paige
37:37
Van Sant and she started fighting for us, we got a lot of
37:40
the MA people really watching us.
37:42
And then Mike Perry, MM Perry coming on board, Eddie Alvarez,
37:47
Luke Rockhold, those kind of guys.
37:49
They really made a lot of guys really TuneIn for us.
37:52
And you know probably the cards that they were on were probably
37:55
some of the most memorable cards.
37:57
There's really been a lot of great cards, a lot of great
38:00
fights. I I mean, you know I remember
38:02
one of the best fights that I've ever saw in new organisation was
38:05
Rhino. Riley for trucked in Carson in
38:09
South Carolina was one of the best fights that we've ever had
38:12
in history so far. It was just bell to bell
38:15
fighting with. Actually that was in Tampa, FL
38:17
back, but it was an unbelievable fight.
38:20
So many of them, so many of them.
38:22
But I think the ones that I mentioned are the ones that
38:24
really got a lot of people interested in the sports.
38:27
Yes, that that's actually very true.
38:29
Peter Van Zandt, for example, from the UFC, I remember
38:32
vividly, like she actually drew our attention from the MMA
38:36
world. So looking you've actually had a
38:39
a global impact in terms of you know the combat sports scene,
38:44
right. So are there in terms of
38:46
numbers, right. What do you see?
38:48
What are their aspirations going forward?
38:51
As far as, say, the beginning of that question.
38:53
Again, I didn't hear you. I said you were actually
38:55
impacted the global scene, the global compact, the combat sport
38:59
scene, right. So what are the aspirations?
39:02
What are like the goals, the targets for elected the next
39:05
five years? I mean really like, I mean, I
39:10
want to do as big as I can do. I want to be the biggest thing
39:12
we can be. But I'm in this for one reason.
39:16
Really, man, I wanna these people that dedicate their lives
39:20
to me, These people that go out there and bleed from me and risk
39:22
their life for me, man, I wanna change all their lives.
39:24
That's what I meant. I want to change their lives.
39:26
And when I can change people's lives and for the better and I
39:30
know that that that they gave up, you know, a lot of their
39:34
life for me to help grow the business and help grow my dream
39:37
and I can hand it back to them, then I know I made it.
39:41
It doesn't. That doesn't mean, you know,
39:43
being number 123 or four that you know.
39:46
It's just when it comes to a certain point, I'll know when
39:48
that point is. I'll know when these guys get
39:50
taken care of and when they get get taken care of, then we can
39:54
really have a lot of fun with this thing.
39:55
But until everybody really gets what they're supposed to get and
40:00
they're it's gonna be soon, then we can.
40:02
Like I said, we can have fun with it.
40:04
And when we have fun with it, I think that's when it really
40:07
grows. Like, it's fun, don't get me
40:09
wrong. But once I take care of the most
40:12
important parts, and that's taking care of the people that
40:14
have been there for me. And once I can do that, like,
40:17
really take care of them, changed their lives.
40:19
Once I can do that and then we can really have fun, who knows
40:23
where this thing goes? It could be the biggest thing in
40:25
the world. Hopefully, hopefully.
40:28
So on a personal note, like what keeps you motivated and what
40:32
legacy do you want to have? In I just want.
40:36
What people? I just want people that have
40:39
faced adversities in life and, you know, didn't think that they
40:43
had what it took to accomplish anything in life.
40:45
I want to be the example to them that if you try hard and you
40:49
push hard enough and you have a vision and you have the will and
40:52
you won't let anyone tear your dream down, that you can really
40:55
do anything in the world that you want to do.
40:57
And you know, that's really what I want to do as in my role and
41:02
being able to inspire other people.
41:05
I think that, you know, I'm doing a lot to change my life
41:10
personally. Like, you know, I'm not the best
41:12
person in the world and I want to be and I try everyday to be a
41:15
better person. And if I can help other people
41:18
be better people, and if I can give other people that vision,
41:21
and if I can give other people, you know, a chance to dream to
41:25
to do something that I accomplished, You know, I think
41:28
that's all that really matters in life.
41:30
HSN So at the end of the podcast, right, we have a
41:33
tradition where you answer a question from a previous guest
41:37
and you leave a question for the next guest.
41:39
So a question from a previous guest is this.
41:42
If you had the power to help people to change their
41:48
perspective in terms of the poverty of the mind, you know,
41:51
let's say poverty is not just physical, it's it's a thing of
41:56
the mind, right? So what would you do to help
41:59
people to combat, to tackle poverty of the mind?
42:03
Poverty of the mind. And yes, poverty of the mind
42:07
that has been poor in your mind because a lot of people are
42:10
actually poor feasibly because they are poor from their minds.
42:14
So what would you do to help people in terms of, you know,
42:18
their mindsets? Just listen.
42:24
People can tell you no. Everybody can tell you that you
42:27
can't be this and that You should be, you know,
42:30
impoverished in your mind and you shouldn't have the better
42:33
things in life and you can't do it.
42:35
And you have no business being here, but it's just having the
42:39
fortitude to push forward. And I think that if you just
42:41
push forward, you change that. And you don't have to have the
42:46
poverty in your mind. You can have the in your mind
42:50
and the riches in your mind come from inside.
42:53
They don't come from anything else.
42:54
They come from you. And when you can teach yourself
42:56
to just keep moving forward and keep being the best that you can
43:00
be, being the best that you can be doesn't mean that you have
43:03
$1,000,000 or $10 million or $100 million.
43:06
You might have $10, you might have no money.
43:08
But being the best you can and to help motivate other people, I
43:12
think when I started realising, you know, I had a lot of issues
43:18
in my life and when I started realising that I wanted to help
43:21
other people and help other people accomplish their goals,
43:25
that's when I started realising that I was accomplishing my
43:28
goals. So I think just having the
43:31
fortitude and the no quit in you to just keep moving forward, I
43:35
think you know that takes all the bad stuff away from you.
43:39
Interesting. So, So what question would you
43:41
like to leave for the next guest?
43:43
Umm, if you could change anything in the world.
43:53
One thing in the world to make the world a better place.
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What would it be? If you could change one thing in
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the world to make the world a better place, what theme would
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that thing be Right the next guest have that their their work
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cut out for them. So who would you like to give a
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shout out to you before you leave today?
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I mean, I got just give a shout out to my team.
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I got the best team in the world, the most loyal team in
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the world. You know, my family, my wife,
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Christina, for making all the sacrifices that she makes to
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make me travel all over the world and come home.
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And I have a I have a wife that takes care of me.
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It's it's amazing to be in that position.
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I thank her and I thank my family.
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I thank the fans. I thank the fighters.
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I mean, there's so many people to thank, man.
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The fighters that bleed for me, they bleed for the fans, the
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fans that day after day, fight after fight, come in and support
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us and tell other people to watch us, you know?
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And the team that works way, way harder than they're supposed to
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work right now, you know? Thank everybody.
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Speaking of thankies, thank you very much, David Feldman.
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God bless you. It's been a really, really Great
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War and speaking with you today, and I hope that your story
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inspires it, a lot of people. I hope your story inspires
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people not to give up and to make something better of their
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lives. So thank you very much one more
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time. You're welcome.
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Thanks for having me.