Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is looking to capitalize on some existing heat between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi, which indirectly involves Artem Lobov who, like the “overwashed” Dillon Danis, has no discernible appeal and simply uses that “Notorious” shine to establish his brand.
Nothing wrong with that, it’s how the game is played.
Now that Malignaggi and Lobov were recently signed to BKFC (more on that here and here), it seemed like an easy main event. But why settle for a few thousand pay-per-view (PPV) buys when you can instead generate a few million?
“Told by Paulie Malignaggi that BKFC are preparing a mega money offer to Conor McGregor for a bare-knuckle boxing match with him,” Boxing editor Michael Benson wrote on Twitter. “He insists they have more money than people think and also confirmed it’s possible he could make his June debut against Artem Lobov.”
No McGregor fight outside the Octagon can take place without the blessing of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White, who co-promoted with Floyd Mayweather in late 2017 to make record-setting bucks.
“I think the only kind of fight that he can’t be matched (financially) is his fight with (Floyd) Mayweather,” Malignaggi told Matt Ryan at Fight Sports (full interview here). “I think we’ll be able to make him an offer the he didn’t even make for the Khabib fight. Let’s be honest, his base for the Khabib fight was only $3 million… but BKFC can match those numbers and make it worthwhile for him. Then in the end, it’ll have to be worthwhile in that does he want to take an embarrassing defeat and catch a beating from me.”
There’s clearly a marked difference in appeal between “Money” — the undisputed king of PPV buys — and Malignaggi, who most mixed martial arts (MMA) fans never heard of until the whole “did he or didn’t he” dropping fiasco at SBG Ireland.
Let’s hope BKFC doesn’t blow all its money on McGregor or we could end up with another situation like this.