Francis Ngannou won’t be toeing the line for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship anytime soon.
BKFC president Dave Feldman made an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Wednesday to discuss the future of his bare-knuckle fight promotion just weeks after the organization made a splash with their third-annual KnuckleMania event.
One thing that Feldman chose to get out of the way immediately was the potential signing of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. After walking away from a multi-million dollar deal in Las Vegas, ‘The Predator’ is looking to score a massive payday in the world of boxing. Always looking to bolster his roster, Feldman made a play for Ngannou but revealed that the parties were simply too far apart to make it happen.
“No, I don’t think we’re going to bring him over,” Feldman revealed. “The dollar amount… Look, I’m honest. I’m straight up. I go after guys I think I can get, but after they started talking bout all the things they wanted, it wasn’t in our wheelhouse right now.”
Dave Feldman talks Francis Ngannou and Nate Diaz#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/ddkvlFv6Y0
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) March 1, 2023
With Francis Ngannou Out of the Equation, BKFC Will Focus Its Attention to Another Free Agent
However, Dave Feldman did reveal one name that is still on the playing field; Nate Diaz. After completing his contract with the UFC in September, the Stockton Samurai decided to walk away from his employer of 15 years to seek other opportunities in the world of combat sports. What Diaz lands on is still to be determined, but BKFC is hoping to procure his talents in the near future.
“Diaz, we’re having ongoing conversations with him. We’re gonna have some of his guys fight on our March and April cards. He should be in attendance and we’re looking to do some things with him and we’re gonna see what happens. I’m not really sure what he wants to do. He’s got a lot of scar tissue and getting hit with a bare knuckle might not be great for him. It might be great for him. We’ll find out as these next couple of weeks go by, but his team has been great to deal with. Really great to deal with.”
Feldman also revealed some big news regarding the promotion’s return to Colorado in April for BKFC 41, including the promotional debuts of former UFC champions Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez. You can read more about that here.
