- 5 months ago
President of BKFC David Feldman sits down with Tobin ahead of BKFC 80! Feldman gets into talks about Conor McGregor, Bare Knuckle Debut, Yoel Romero and Mike Perry Fights!
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00:00all right welcome back in everybody Tobin and Leroy here with you on FM 104.3 WQAM and very
00:06excited to talk to our next guest as they're returning to their home away from home BKFC 80
00:11is coming to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino the president of BKFC David Feldman joining
00:16us here Dave thanks for doing this man appreciate you awesome man thanks for having me Brendan
00:20always love to be here we got uh so we got a rematch with uh Leandro Perdomo and Arnold Adams
00:25for the heavyweight uh heavyweight strap these guys a little controversy last time around man
00:30um what did you make of all of that I know it was tough it looked like Adams didn't understand the
00:36count that was going on how did you feel like that all unfolded yeah I watched it a few times I watched
00:42replay a few times and I did agree that I don't think he got the you know the fair the fair uh just
00:48decision that he should have got so we figured hey why not he didn't get he didn't get hurt let's
00:53bring it back Arnold Adams do you want the fight yes immediately Perdomo he said put anybody in
00:59front of me it doesn't matter so we brought back the rematch I um I do think it was a short count
01:04and he was also doing the count in Spanish so he didn't understand you know what he was saying so
01:09it was just one of those things but I think um I think he's going to come out he's going to put up
01:14a great fight and it's going to be another good fight for the fans in in Hard Rock it'll be our
01:1813th straight sellout here at the Hard Rock Casino did you uh did you get any explanation
01:23afterwards for the commissioner like what happened did they like did they read the count wrong from
01:27like the the the side or because I know it was a little crazy there was one so what happens what
01:32happens when a fighter gets knocked down and the referee's trying to officiate the other fighter to
01:37go to the other corner there's there's a timekeeper and the timekeeper actually does the count from
01:42ringside so I don't they said that he missed he missed the count the timekeeper missed the count
01:49with the referee and that's why it was a short count so there was a okay there was a miscommunication
01:53on the side okay all right I was just yeah I was curious there but obviously uh Perdomo's been uh
01:59you know I think you guys got to be pretty happy with how he's been rocking through all these fights
02:03you got a guy who's just steamrolling everybody what have you made of his run I mean indestructible
02:10right now what I wanted to see is if what happens when he gets cracked right because
02:15anybody is is great offensively they can be let's see what happens when he gets cracked in
02:20and uh Arnold Adams hit him with a beautiful right hook right on the chin he just turned his head and
02:26kept coming forward so that was a good sign as as he you know faces better and better talent you know
02:32we're going to see if he can take that crack but right now you know people are billing him as the
02:36bare knuckle Mike Tyson and he's a guy that's nine and oh he nine and oh he hasn't been in the ring
02:42more than nine minutes nine and oh hasn't been in the ring more than nine minutes so I mean that
02:47says a lot about what he's done I don't know nine ko's all first round ko's and and all in
02:52devastating fashion so you know the kid keeps his head on that's the main thing right now can he keep
02:57his head on straight can he not read his own press clippings can he stay dedicated and stay in the gym
03:02and keep honing his craft if he can do that I mean I really truly believe this kid can be a superstar
03:07so as a promoter I know you don't it's hard because you don't want to have biases but obviously
03:12you love the show like do you like seeing the I would you I guess this is a weird question because
03:17I know you don't want to seem like you're leaning but like do you want to see the freak continue to
03:22to be a a monster steamrolling or do you want to see him tested like is that is is that is that the
03:27curiosity I really have a great relationship with all these fighters but at the end of the day is
03:31you're I think you're asking me a question what's best for the company right what's best for the
03:36company is obviously becoming 20 and 0 20 first round knockouts that's what's best for the company
03:41so obviously that's what we want to see happen but if you know if something else happened in you know
03:47in the interim and and took that off track we'd pick we'd pick up where we left off and we try to
03:52continue that run but I think look man it's I think as long as this kid can keep this I mean he's
03:58devastating guys with his punches it's it's unbelievable it it really does it reminds me of Mike Tyson like
04:03he cracks him and they go I mean and they go they're not just like taking a knee like some of
04:08the guys in bare knuckle they get hit with a bare knuckle and they're not used to it they take a knee
04:11and they're like ah these guys are going they're going to sleep so that's you know that's that's the
04:17kind of devastating fashion that Leonardo Perdoma is putting on these guys and yeah man we would love
04:22to see that train continue to roll so you got y'all Romero making his debut which is always exciting
04:27love watching y'all fight uh I just called his last fight in dirty boxing so it's it's cool to see
04:32him now go over to you guys uh how did that whole process come to be he's been uh he's been talking
04:38to us for a while now it just kind of didn't make sense honestly he was asking for a little more
04:42money than we were willing to pay at first and now he came down realistically and you know he's still
04:47getting paid good but he's coming over here um seeing what he's doing in dirty boxing seeing what
04:52he's doing like he's never he's never looked old he hasn't looked old yet and that's you know he
04:57doesn't look old physically but he doesn't look old in the ring and that's the most important
05:01thing so we'll see I mean look we all know we've all seen it through the years now through in past
05:06six years bare knuckles different so you know when he gets hit with a bare knuckle punch how's he going
05:11to react to it and if it reacts the way I think he's going to react you know I would say this is
05:15going to be a devastating first round knockout for y'all Romero just just by the fashion of who he's
05:21fighting he's fighting a tough durable guy but not a big big puncher and you got a guy y'all Romero who
05:26really has to prove that he belongs here now because he is he is getting up there in age
05:31so like this one's at heavyweight yeah this is where he's going to be fighting is yeah but he'll
05:36be he'll be fighting at 205 this is a lighter part of the heavyweight division I think this fights at
05:41215 ish or 218 but you know he's going to be fighting at the 205 pound division okay I didn't
05:47know if there was like if you guys were trying to set up like him versus Perdomo down the line or
05:51something like that like that that would be unbelievable that would be unbelievable yes this
05:55that obviously would be unbelievable I didn't I didn't who knows right I mean listen he gets a
06:00taste of it who knows what he wants to do but I mean the goal was to have him at 205 eventually
06:05fight for a 205 pound championship in the next year or so here in Miami and we'll see what happens
06:10but I mean look I mean Cuba versus Cuba here in Miami that's like you know that's that that's an
06:15unbelievable marketing tool oh absolutely no doubt that would be uh that'd be an easy one of the
06:20easiest sell-outs you'd ever have down here man and you guys have a good streak going on but
06:24I feel like you could kick your feet up with a matchup like that yeah sure man sure how did you
06:29uh get Kimbo Slice Jr. into the fold obviously we know his father is the backyard bare knuckle legend
06:35and I've seen him you know in plenty of cards fighting in different promotions but what uh what did this
06:40marriage come to be we've been talking to him for a while he's been three or four of our fights he was
06:44actually supposed to fight a tiktoker Bryce Hall about I don't know probably about a year ago and it just
06:49didn't work out but you know finally um he got settled in his job he's a cop now in Las Vegas and
06:55and he's coming back here to you know his home and his dad's home where his dad's a legend and he's
07:01gonna you know fight at the hard rock man and I'm excited about that because I'm excited about
07:04kind of what people are going to say I'm like you know Kimbo Slice's kid's fighting now
07:09it's a lot of pressure on him right he's Kimbo he's not Kimbo Slice's kid in Missouri
07:14he's Kimbo Slice's kid in Miami he has to show up he has to perform so he's got a lot of pressure on
07:20him but he's actually fighting a really really we did not give him a gift wrap proponent for this one
07:25he's fighting a tough durable kid who wins somebody loses somebody always comes to bang Derek Perez
07:31how many uh Kimbo Slice fights on YouTube have you watched oh man so many so many man I mean it it's
07:39amazing I mean look that's kind of what gave us some of the idea this that and the travelers I
07:44mean and then like wow let's put this into a real sport let's make a professional and let's go and
07:48here we are on our going into our seventh year now man it's man it's amazing seven years I talked to
07:54you I remember I think for the first time I talked to you was back in the pandemic in 2020 and we
07:59started cranking out shows here in Miami if it wasn't for cranking out shows during the pandemic here
08:04in Miami we probably wouldn't be where we are right now no man you've been uh you guys have
08:08been rocking and it's been I think that's one of the good things about the pandemic is how many
08:12combat sports have finally come back here because of how many people train down here and it's it's a
08:16really really cool thing to see uh do you guys have plans like is the is the is the plan to roll out a
08:22lot of stuff down here in 26 or or the rest of the year like how what is your outlook for South Florida
08:28we're actually in talks about opening up a small little or buying a facility here and having
08:32BKFC headquarters down here our offices and and a small little arena maybe about 1200 people
08:38and do these so we're launching a series I'm going to break it here with you because nobody knows we're
08:43launching a series called BKFC Fight Club in 2026 it's going to start in February and it actually
08:49it's Fight Club man it's going to be 16 guys in the same weight and same basic experience level
08:55and five minutes before they fight they're going to pick their opponent and then they're going to fight
08:59so it's going to be pretty cool it's going to be a cool little atmosphere it's going to be in a
09:04warehouse setting it's going to be you know produced and and lit properly but it's going to it's going
09:08to look like Fight Club oh man that sounds sick that sounds so is the plan like are they going to do
09:13like come back lit a week later and do another fight like they'll come back they'll come back
09:18through the year and then we'll give them fairly lucrative contracts to come to fight for BKFC
09:23these are going to be guys that haven't fought for BKFC yet it's almost a step in you know the
09:28stepping ground or to step in the stool to get to BKFC but it's going to be pretty cool man and the
09:32good thing about it is I can't say who yet but we just signed with a major major Hollywood star
09:38to do it to do our docu follow of some of these guys so that's going to get announced here in the
09:43next two to three weeks and that's going to really really push the narrative on some of these guys
09:47that's awesome uh a few more before we get you out of here the uh my guy Mike Perry he's going to be
09:53back in the uh in the ring coming up in New Jersey against Jeremy Stevens how fired up are you for
09:57that matchup it's going to be great I mean I'm really happy just to be in Jersey I grew up in
10:03Philly but I grew up in Atlantic City on the boardwalks um with my dad having fights or fighters
10:08fighting almost every weekend down there so to finally get across the line in New Jersey right
10:13now I mean that was when we were really trying for it that's amazing in the Prudential Center a very
10:18iconic arena up there for a lot of combat sports events so that's great and the tickets are selling
10:23great we got Mike Perry versus Jeremy Stevens uh for the King of Violence Championship Queen of
10:28Violence Championship we have Jessica Borger versus Christine Faria that's going to be a war
10:32and then Frankie Edgar you know we talked to him for a while and he wanted to make his comeback and
10:36again he's not making his comeback would he would it give me fight he's fighting Jimmy Rivera who has
10:42performed very well for BKFC and in the UFC and and they're both really big stars in Jersey
10:48so we're expecting a great turnout a lot of really important people to be there and more importantly
10:53a great great night of fights what uh is is there a chance like I know that it's been uh talked about
11:00him or the winner of Stevens versus Perry actually getting Connor what is the likelihood man because
11:05I know that people talk about wanting Connor to fight all the time but with this partnership
11:08do you ever foresee it happening I know he always says that he wants to do it and I don't ever say
11:13Connor doesn't want to do it but I'm sure that I don't know what the deal is with the UFC and how
11:17that all works so like what's the reality of Connor McGregor ever getting to do a bare knuckle fight
11:21I mean listen it's all gonna he's getting in shape now he's actually the best Connor McGregor I've seen
11:27since I've known him focused and ready to go I've you know I've seen him a little unfocused in the past
11:32he's very very focused he's very very driven right now and he wants to come back and he wants to fight
11:38on that White House card next summer and if that that happens and he wins he still has to do
11:43another fight and if he does that he will come and fight here I mean I have no doubt in my mind
11:49if he has two wins in a row or at least looks good twice in a row with the UFC that he fights for BKFC
11:55because it makes only sense to him he increases the valuation which increases his take on it and
12:00he gets paid very well do you uh like could you take us like what is it like watching a fight with
12:05him there does he see is he very engaged with it like he seems at these press conferences obviously
12:09like he sells it great unbelievable he's like I like I'm the biggest fan he's the second biggest
12:15fan like it's crazy it's just like oh do you see that do you I mean jumping up and down like
12:19it's great it's really great watching a fight with him um especially now when he's focused and
12:25everything it's really really great watching a fight with him and you know uh the next one he's
12:29going to be at is the October 4th one in Newark well well uh we're looking forward to this one
12:34coming back here you guys can catch it out uh you got be a BKFC 80 coming to Seminole Hard Rock
12:40Hotel and Casino once again Dave we appreciate the time are you going to be at the uh the hockey
12:44card I want I see this is I can't go on my Instagram without seeing the damn uh the the ice wars it's
12:50all over the place man yeah man yeah I'm going to be there October 10th um that's going to be a real
12:54good card I I watched the first one just you know we kind of dipped our toes into it and now we're
12:59going to jump into it because I told him we have some pretty cool surprises there that I think
13:04are going to make for some great great fights plus what they did before is they did synthetic ice
13:08which I don't know anything about it I don't know ice skate but it's synthetic ice and now they're
13:12doing real ice and they said you can really dig the the skates into the ice and really you know
13:18get a grip on it so you can turn your body and get some great punches and I'm expecting to be a
13:23great I mean look it's it's what people go to a lot of hockey matches for you're getting the fights
13:27and that's all you're getting dude we have and we you got you're in the champs house so the
13:32back-to-back champs I hope uh you guys can get uh Jonah Gajovic out there Sam Bennett you know
13:37some of the Panthers out there these are these guys look I don't know if they ever want to get
13:40some of them are coming some of them are coming Friday night to the fight at the hard rock yeah
13:45that's awesome I'm telling you got some maniacs there those guys are uh those guys they they love
13:50to scrap that's why everybody hates the Panthers but we uh we love them down here man awesome man
13:54now um it's going to be an awesome run here in in uh South Jersey area I mean South um South
14:00Florida area I'm saying South Jersey because I was just talking about Jersey but South Florida area
14:05we're really going to do some big things here next year and we'll probably do up to eight events in
14:10in South Florida next year it's not going to get over saturated because it's going to be two
14:15different levels of events so I think we uh I think we're going to keep the fans very engaged
14:19build some stars and really and really turn this thing out in South Florida next year man just
14:24love being here always selling I mean like I said 13 straight sellout we're coming up on you know we
14:30haven't done that anywhere in the world 13 straight sellouts that's amazing I mean a lot of you know
14:35not a lot of combat sports companies can say that and and and we're doing it because we have the best
14:41fans around and we have some unbelievable fights appreciate the time man thanks so much
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