David Feldman on BKFC’s Australian Expansion and Bare-Knuckle’s Next Era

And, uh, what's one of the things along the journey that you've learnt that, uh, or that you're going through r- right now that's probably the biggest struggle? Is it getting it sort of approved by states and cities? Is it sponsors? Is it...

Like, what's probably one of the biggest challenges for BKFC right now?

I think it's, it's perception.

It, it...

Here's what it really truly is.

It's the guys and girls that never watched it before-

Mm

... and say, "Oh, we don't want that.

Oh, that's a bad sport." And, and then I go, "Okay, great.

Can you tell me what you didn't like about the show that you watched?" And they go, "Oh, I didn't watch it."

[laughs]

"Well then, you can't possibly not like it because you never watched it."

[laughs]

"So I said, do me a favor and watch the show." They watch the show, and more often than not, they change their mind.

Some of them go, "Yeah, I don't like it.

I just don't like it." And at the end of the day is you can't change everybody's mind.

But I think our biggest battle from inception of this sport was changing people's minds and changing their perception, and I think we did a phenomenal job of it.

We're never gonna change everybody's mind, we're never gonna change everybody's perception, but we've come a long, long way in, in what I feel is a short eight years.

We've got major TV deals.

We've got major sponsorships.

We're, we're doing business with major professional sports teams.

So we're doing some really big stuff, and I think it's all because we always took that no and said, "Man, how can I turn that into a yes?"

And, uh, what's one of the things along the journey that you've learnt that, uh, or that you're going through r- right now that's probably the biggest struggle? Is it getting it sort of approved by states and cities? Is it sponsors? Is it...

Like, what's probably one of the biggest challenges for BKFC right now?

I think it's, it's perception.

It, it...

Here's what it really truly is.

It's the guys and girls that never watched it before-

Mm

... and say, "Oh, we don't want that.

Oh, that's a bad sport." And, and then I go, "Okay, great.

Can you tell me what you didn't like about the show that you watched?" And they go, "Oh, I didn't watch it."

[laughs]

"Well then, you can't possibly not like it because you never watched it."

[laughs]

"So I said, do me a favor and watch the show." They watch the show, and more often than not, they change their mind.

Some of them go, "Yeah, I don't like it.

I just don't like it." And at the end of the day is you can't change everybody's mind.

But I think our biggest battle from inception of this sport was changing people's minds and changing their perception, and I think we did a phenomenal job of it.

We're never gonna change everybody's mind, we're never gonna change everybody's perception, but we've come a long, long way in, in what I feel is a short eight years.

We've got major TV deals.

We've got major sponsorships.

We're, we're doing business with major professional sports teams.

So we're doing some really big stuff, and I think it's all because we always took that no and said, "Man, how can I turn that into a yes?"