Conor McGregor had a tough few months to close out 2024 after a jury in Ireland found him liable in a civil lawsuit after he was accused of sexual assault several years ago. That came after McGregor’s professional career also endured plenty of turmoil following a cancelled fight against Michael Chandler in the UFC with no clear indication on when he might actually compete again.
In the wake of the lawsuit verdict, McGregor saw numerous sponsors and business partners cut ties with him including Proper No. 12 Irish whiskey — a company he founded and later sold with the new owners at Proximo Spirits removing him from all marketing materials after he was found liable in the civil lawsuit. While McGregor has vowed to appeal the verdict in the civil case, he’s remained steadfast with plans to fight again but perhaps his biggest passion lately has been pushing and promoting BKFC after he became a part-owner in the bare-knuckle outfit in 2024.
McGregor has been a constant presence both in attendance at many shows and consistently posting about the organization on social media, where he boasts over 70 million combined followers. BKFC president David Feldman praised McGregor for his constant support and he vowed to stand by the Irish superstar through thick and thin.
“We don’t want to go into what happened but at the end of the day, we’re with him,” Feldman told MMA Fighting. “He’s our partner, and we’re going to grow this thing together. He talks, people listen. I don’t condone any bad things that may have happened but what I do support 100 percent is loyalty. You’re with somebody, you’re with somebody, and you’re with somebody through good and bad. Not just with them through the good.
“We’ve been with Conor McGregor the whole time. He’s been with us the whole time and 2025’s going to be an epic year for everybody involved.”
McGregor’s influence has been overwhelmingly positive since he got involved with BKFC, but he can still manage to ruffle a few feathers from time to time.
He famously “fired” Mike Perry after losing to Jake Paul in a boxing match back in July, which actually caused a lot of confusion considering his actual ownership stake in BKFC. Obviously, Perry wasn’t fired but that initial comment definitely didn’t seem to sit well with arguably BKFC’s biggest star.
This past weekend during the final BKFC card of 2024, McGregor unleashed a tirade aimed at DAZN — the streaming platform and broadcast partner to the bare-knuckle promotion — after he was angered that winning athletes were not being offered time for post-fight interviews.
“DAZN, I don’t give a f*ck, if you don’t get our winners on the mic, we are done,” McGregor shouted in a now deleted post on Twitter.
It turns out, McGregor’s frustration was actually misplaced because the decision on whether or not to offer time for post-fight interviews actually falls on BKFC’s shoulders.
“He’s dead right on that but that actually wasn’t a DAZN thing,” Feldman explained. “It was an our production thing. At the Hard Rock for some reason, we’re always on a timeline and we have to get out of there. It gets crazy if you go over time, I’m talking like $100,000 an hour so we had to get out on time. He’s dead right. So we are making some adjustments, too. Whether it’s during the next fight’s walkout, or during the break from the next fight, while we’re interviewing these guys.
“These guys do need to be seen and heard. Because that’s what [makes] them. That’s what made [Conor]. If they didn’t talk to Conor McGregor after the fights, you wouldn’t know who he is. You wouldn’t. So we have to take advantage of that and we will.”
As much as he wishes McGregor didn’t publicly blast DAZN in that way, Feldman really does appreciate the passion that the former two-division UFC champion shows for the sport and BKFC as a whole during almost every show.
Feldman promises that he’s very happy with BKFC’s decision to work with DAZN and now he just has to figure out a better way to get fighters the time they should get on the microphone after a big win no matter what.
“Obviously, DAZN is a great partner for us, and I wish he didn’t go out there like that but at the end of the day, everything’s ironed over,” Feldman said. “We understand everything, he understands everything and he’s dead right.
“We want to hear from the fighters. They just had a devastating knockout. I want to hear ‘I’m going to knock out everybody else that I ever face.’ They want to hear that. They want to hear why, and we’re going to tell those stories, and we’re going to let them talk.”