Just like that, Conor McGregor’s business empire has expanded even further.
McGregor, the prizefighter/whiskey magnate/real estate developer, has a long list of different enterprises that combine to make up his business portfolio — and that swelled even further late on Thursday when he officially signed a deal to become co-owner of bare-knuckle boxing fight league Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC).
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The deal, which was first reported in recent weeks, was formalised by McGregor alongside BKFC president David Feldman late Thursday in McGregor’s Black Forge Inn pub. The partnership comes about a year after McGregor entered the BKFC ring for a staredown with arguably the sport’s biggest star, former UFC welterweight ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry following his knockout win over Luke Rockhold.
On the Instagram post marking the formalising of the deal, Perry responded: “Who wants to see me fight in Ireland?”
Since the promotion’s launch in 2018, several well-regarded former mixed martial arts stars have fought under its banner, including former McGregor MMA opponents Chad Mendes and Eddie Alvarez.
“He’s now an owner of BKFC with us and we’re going to take this motherf*cking thing all the way to the top now,” Feldman said of McGregor at a post-fight press conference in Los Angeles in April.
“He came to our event — in two days it will be a year — in Denver,” Feldman added. “He jumped in the ring, he called out Mike Perry in fun, and one thing led to another. We partnered with his beer, for his Irish stout, and they became a sponsor of us. He fell in love with this.
“We had some unbelievable conversations, some great ideas already exchanging. It was funny, I was telling my wife, ‘I was dying for Conor McGregor to call me and now the guy won’t stop calling me.’ It’s unbelievable. But he is so excited about this thing. I really think it takes it to the next level.”
It remains to be seen if McGregor will ever compete within what is now — partly, at least — his own fight promotion. The Dubliner is due to return to the Octagon at this summer’s UFC 303, where he will make his comeback against former Bellator champion Michael Chandler.
