Bare-Knuckle Summit Planned For May In Kansas
In a sport that is considered the Wild Wild West in the world of combat, bare-knuckle boxing has become a true sensation. In the United States, Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship has grown the sport to a variety of places in the country, resulting in an expansion of wild proportions.
Now, it looks like the sport may be put in check.
The Kansas Athletic Commission announced a summit for bare-knuckle boxing. The “Bare-Knuckle Fighting Summit” will take place on May fifth and sixth in Kansas City. There is no limit on the number of attendees. Those scheduled to appear include:
- ABC President Brian Dunn
- Association of Ringside Physicians President Dr. Don Muzzi
- BKFC CEO David Feldman
- Referees Dan Miragliotta and Bill Clancy
- ISKA New York Director Tom Sconzo
- Fighter Chris Lytle
“Bare knuckle fighting has rapidly emerged as the next category of combat sports in North America, and is now being regulated or being considered for regulation by numerous Athletic Commissions across North America,” said Kansas Athletic Commission Executive Director Adam Roorbach in a press release. “It’s imperative that we all come together and work towards the standardization of rules, medical and fighter safety protocols, licensing, data base reporting, officiating, and the inclusion of sanctioning bodies.”
The idea of the summit is to help set rules for bare-knuckle, a sport that doesn’t have the same strict rules that MMA or boxing does. Fights can be held in a ring, on the floor or on a mat. This is not the first time the Kansas Athletic Commission will be experimenting with something. Following controversy in several MMA events, Invicta FC will be the first organization to test an opening scoring trial.
Even with multiple states involved in bare-knuckle, there isn’t a real link between the sport and any form of uniformity.
“The reality is economics,” KAC Commissioner Sean Wheelock stated to MMAFighting. “It’s always safety first, but beyond that, this is a sport that’s growing, and for states named Kansas, where we’ve had one UFC in our state’s history, it opens up another revenue stream.”
While the sport doesn’t generate crazy revenue numbers as the UFC does, the profit coming out of it provides a buzz. With signings like Paulie Malignaggi, Artem Lobov, Nico Hernandez, Bec Rawlings and David Rickels, the sport has become bigger that itself. The summit will look to prove that and work on ways to make the sport safer.