Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship

Who owns BKFC?
No single party controls BKFC. Triller Group holds approximately 38 percent after a 2025 foreclosure, Conor McGregor holds a minority stake through McGregor Sports and Entertainment, and founder David Feldman's interests hold the remainder.

Is BKFC publicly traded?
No. BKFC is private. Its largest shareholder, Triller Group, was delisted from Nasdaq at the end of 2025.

When was BKFC founded?
David Feldman founded BKFC in 2018. Its first sanctioned event ran on June 2, 2018, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Does Triller still control BKFC?
No. Triller lost majority control after a June 2025 foreclosure reduced its stake to about 38 percent, and it deconsolidated BKFC in January 2026. It now holds the company as a minority investment.

Where is BKFC based?
BKFC is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and stages events at sanctioned venues across the United States and internationally.

Is BKFC legal?
Yes. BKFC operates under state athletic commission sanctioning and is the largest legal bare-knuckle boxing promotion, distributed in more than 60 countries.

David Feldman founded BKFC in 2018 to revive regulated bare-knuckle boxing in the United States. The sport had existed as an unsanctioned underground activity for decades, and Feldman's approach was to work within state athletic commission frameworks to create a legal version.

The first sanctioned event took place on June 2, 2018, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, headlined by former UFC fighter Phil Baroni. The event proved a market existed for sanctioned bare-knuckle competition, and BKFC began expanding to additional states as commissions approved the format.

Growth through 2019-2021 established BKFC as the category leader, signing fighters from boxing and MMA backgrounds and building a regular event schedule. Triller's February 2022 acquisition of a majority stake injected capital and integrated BKFC into Triller's combat sports content operation.

Conor McGregor's April 2024 minority investment through McGregor Sports and Entertainment raised the promotion's profile dramatically. McGregor became an active ambassador, and his involvement generated mainstream attention beyond combat sports media.

The October 2024 merger of AGBA Group and Triller Corp created Triller Group, placing BKFC inside the new public company. Financial stress followed: a June 2025 Yorkville foreclosure over a defaulted convertible note transferred about 3 million BKFC shares (17.66 percent) to the lender, cutting Triller's stake to roughly 38.1 percent and stripping its board rights. In January 2026, Triller disclosed it had lost control and deconsolidated BKFC to a cost-method investment.

Through 2025-2026, BKFC kept operating as the leading legal bare-knuckle promotion, with Triller's stated intent to restore majority ownership unrealized as of November 2026.

BKFC's public scrutiny divides between the sport's violence and its ownership turbulence. Critics argue bare-knuckle fighting normalizes extreme brutality; defenders note its documented injury profile differs from gloved boxing and that sanctioning brings medical oversight underground fighting lacks.

The Triller ownership saga generated sustained coverage: the Yorkville foreclosure, the deconsolidation disclosure, Triller's Nasdaq delisting, and the unresolved question of majority control create ongoing governance uncertainty around the promotion.

Fighter safety incidents inherent to combat sports occur at events but have produced no major scandal specific to BKFC as of November 2026.