When David Feldman, the founder and president of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, formed the organization in 2018, one of his first goals was to just successfully hold an event. BKFC accomplished that feat, putting on a trio of cards in its opening year in Wyoming and Mississippi.
Since then, the organization has taken its show to dozens of states and a handful of countries, including Thailand, Bulgaria, England, Canada and Montenegro. In another moment considered years in the making, the organization will make its Hawai‘i debut on Saturday for BKFC Fight Night Honolulu: Pitolo vs. Coltrane, with Mākaha native Maki Pitolo taking on Doug Coltrane. The card begins at 5 p.m. at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center on Saturday.
"The vision in 2018 was to get one event done, because I worked nine years to do it. Get one done, and then we'll see where it takes it in a good and bad way. Obviously, the only bad way is, you miss a lot of time with your family and your loved ones. But then, in a good way, we've been and are going to places we never dreamed that we're going," Feldman told Aloha State Daily. "Back-to-back events in Hawai‘i and Australia on back-to-back weekends, so it's just phenomenal.
"We have three events in seven days. The amount of fan interest that we get all over the world now, it's just truly incredible and very, very humbling, and we're just blessed to be in the position that we're in. Took a lot of hard work to get there, a lot of perseverance, and here we are with a great show coming up in Hawai‘i."
Hawai‘i has been on the organization's radar for years. Pitolo, a mixed martial artist with six UFC fights under his belt, will make his BKFC debut on Saturday night. He'll enter the ring on Saturday against a Coltrane that's 3-2 in BKFC fights.
All 13 bouts on Saturday's card will feature at least one fighter from Hawai‘i. The opportunity to discover more Island talent and have them compete in front of their families and friends was another element that appealed to the organization.
"I always knew that the people there on the Island could really, really fight. There's a lot of great fighters, a lot of great promotions that actually did fights there. I just thought it would fit the island very, very well, so I brought it there. I think the challenge was finding the right partner," Feldman said. "We found TJay Thompson, who does some promotions with Bellator and some other promotions of his own there, and he's been great to work with. He helped with a lot of the logistical problems that we thought that we were going to have that we didn't really have. It was a little harder than our normal shows that we do in the continental United States, but it wasn't very, very hard, and we're getting a great reception from it. We got some great fighters on the card. I think it's just going to be a fantastic event."
What separates BKFC from other combat sports is self-explanatory: The fighters themselves compete with their bare knuckles. Although the fighters have their wrists and thumbs taped, their knuckles are exposed. Other combat sports organizations, such as those in mixed martial arts like the UFC, use four-ounce gloves to provide some sort of padding for strikers.
BKFC fights consist of two five-minute rounds, shorter than the standard 15-minute MMA bout that features three five-minute rounds. All things considered, Feldman believes those who purchase a ticket to Saturday's card at the Blaisdell will end up falling in love with the sport.
"If you want to see the most exciting combat sport that you've ever seen, I promise you that you're going to leave Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship a fan," Feldman says. "If you're a fan of combat sports at all and you come to this, there's nothing more exciting, there's nothing more engaging.
"You get to see these trained professional athletes do what they love to do, but this time without gloves on. And the sound that you're going to hear and the excitement that you're going to see in that arena, it's going to be like nothing else you've ever witnessed. So, I urge you guys to come out and watch this great event, and I guarantee that you're going to be fans for life."
A portion of ticket sales for BKFC Fight Night Honolulu will also go toward those affected by recent Kona Low storms across the Islands.
"The motivation is, if we're going to do something and be successful there, and we can't give back to the people that were affected, then what are we doing it for? Why are we doing anything good in life if you can't help the people that are having trouble? That's the way that we just model our lives," Feldman said. "We're going to do good, and we're going to give back to the people that help build it, to the people that are affected, to the people that need the help."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
