It says it only promotes established professionals in boxing, MMA, kickboxing, or Muay Thai and works under an Athletic Commission which is part of the Association and Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports. The Championship's president, David Feldman, said he felt "vindicated" last year when there was some evidence that bare-knuckle fighting had a lower rate of concussion and hand-breaking than boxing and MMA, and the BKFC is keen to extol its emphasis on safety. Same goes for Crazy Horse at Gamebread FC 2 #BKFC20 #GFC2 #MMA #MMATwitter - Jason Hagholm October 4, 2021 The Mississippi Commission has to come under fire for this Dillion Clekler is 11-1 in MMA and 3-0 in BKFC and Justin Thornton was 6-18 in MMA and 0-1 in Boxing. It is harder to contemplate whether the extreme side of combat sports erodes the boundaries of decency – and what it says about the mentality of those who enthusiastically encourage those boundaries to be pushed at – when the fighters involved are well-known names with millions of followers outside of the sport and slick PR operations.
More winningly from a marketing perspective, the recent signings of former UFC competitors Paige VanZant and Rachael Ostovich, bringing with them poster girl presences and vast social media following, have been another attempt to prevent the sport from being considered a purely barbaric beatdown by many. Ex-UFC fighter and Conor McGregor teammate Artem Lobov and former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi signed up to provide something of a crossover appeal, although there were questions over whether the veterans should have been allowed to test themselves in a discipline with a notorious reputation. Its reception remains mixed, yet it has undoubtedly become the most high-profile company to attempt to bring the sport from cultish underground gorefests to a more broadly-accepted form of entertainment.
From the popcorn-and-lights fan experience to its claim to be following traditions established in the 19th century, this is a promotion that would love to cross the sensitivity threshold, as the UFC has managed to such an extent that it has become a multi-billion dollar industry, and make good on the predominant rejection that the gloveless discipline has experienced when it has historically attempted to entice wider audiences.ĭana White preaches importance of fighter safety after a BKFC fighter died."We spend more than $20 million on athlete medical a year." #DWCS | Full video: /TjDjTKdYCs- MMA Junkie October 6, 2021 The Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship has been engaged in a tug-of-war between savage entertainment and the threshold of what constitutes acceptable violence to viewers since it began in 2018. There are those who see the rise of MMA, partly driven by the reforms applied to the UFC since the pre-21st century days when it carried the slogan "there are no rules", as a sad and incomprehensible reflection of a society that cannot conceive of better ways to distract itself than through the kind of gladatorial gruesomeness that should have long been outlawed. Also on rt.com Bare-knuckle fighter Justin Thornton dies weeks after becoming partially paralyzed following brutal KO in BKFC boutĬonversely, when horrific incidents do occur, there are always immediate calls – some from figures with huge audiences – for fighting to be banned. Everyone loves a tear-up, as the saying goes, provided that the consequences do not become too unedifying or fall too close to home. This is the kind of storyline that is far from the often-glamorous, excitable feel of a fighting arena, and seems perilously like an inevitable outcome of a thirst for blood among viewers.
His parents, who traveled to be by his side, look to have had little success with a fundraiser to pay for their costs. Six weeks on from being pulverized in 19 seconds in that contest in Mississippi, the man who loved fighting is dead, having been paralyzed by his beating and purportedly put on a ventilator while being treated for a lung infection and medication for a spinal cord injury. When Justin Thornton stepped into the ring for his doomed fight against Dillon Cleckler on August 21, the journeyman's lot was not enviable.