"A 75er could fight a heavyweight" - BKFC president David Feldman teases bold plans for their upcoming $25 million tournament

BKFC president David Feldman just dropped a major bombshell that Bareknuckle Fighting Championship will hold a massive $25 million tournament across the globe open to all willing combatants. What started out as a mere slip of the tongue during an interview turned into a massive, globe-trotting quest to find the best bare-knuckle boxer in the world today.

In the interview, David Feldman explained that he may have sluggishly dropped the concept and then had to figure out how actually to put the $25 million tournament together. Thanks to a handful of investors and sponsors, the BKFC president was able to turn the dream into reality.

Feldman also explained that a total of 64 combatants from across the world will compete to be in the final eight, where the real money comes in. The first $10 million will be dispersed amongst the participants, while the tournament winner will bag $15 million.

Regarding weight classes, it will be free-for-all, with lower weight classes potentially fighting opponents several weight classes above.

Feldman told Ariel Helwani:

"We're anticipating 20,000 applications. We're going to narrow it down to 64... It could be at a lighter weight, which would be around 135 [pounds] to 165 [pounds]... But I'm leaning towards more from 175 to 275. And the same thing is, a 75er could fight a heavyweight in the finals. Or in the final eight."

Check out BKFC president David Feldman's comments here (2:25):

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BKFC president David Feldman assures that openweight format will not be a problem for the commissions

With Feldman's bold move of turning the tournament into an open-weight format, Ariel Helwani quickly pointed out that this concept might not go over well with the athletic commissions in the United States.

Feldman quickly put the journalist's mind at ease by saying (3:16):

"I got approval from almost every commission. I did all my homework on this... Almost every commission said, 'We can do that, but - the same way - let's do that towards the finals.'"

Feldman also mentioned that the brackets will be open to both up-and-comers and established names in the business. The BKFC president wanted to make sure to include the fighters that helped him build his company but also open doors to "eight to ten to twelve to 24" new stars in bare-knuckle boxing.