00:01Obviously, the tournament that they're going to have is one of those
00:04that they're trying to put into fruition,
00:05that they're hoping to do this year.
00:06Looks like it'll be next year.
00:08He's talked about other things where trying to take care of the fighters
00:12like health insurance and pension.
00:15And unfortunately, those didn't work out.
00:17But there is one other thing that he is now trying to bring into fruition
00:20and trying to do with the fighters to set them up financially
00:24to make them better compensated
00:25and make them a bigger part of the success of the organization.
00:29He talked about that.
00:30So let's bring that up right now.
00:31Connor had a long talk and we said, listen,
00:33let's do something that no one's ever done.
00:35Let's make all of our fighters owners of the company.
00:41So we're going to start off with every one of our champions,
00:45whether they're a UK champion or a world champion,
00:48or if you're a long tenured fighter that has at least 10 fights with us,
00:52you're all going to get equity right here.
00:54I'm not talking about I'm not talking about I'm going to do it next week.
00:58I'm going to do it tonight.
00:58This is your equity.
00:59I got shares of the company for all you guys.
01:02You guys are going to be owners of BKFC.
01:07So a great plan by them.
01:09We'll see how it works out.
01:10Hopefully it works out because we've seen this in combat sports a lot.
01:13We saw it many times with boxers going against promoters,
01:17saying that they ripped them off,
01:18or managers that took all their winnings,
01:20and guys that fought in epic pay-per-view battles over five, ten fights.
01:26Many times after they've gotten to championships that end up broke and needing money.
01:32You've seen this with some of the fighters in MMA and the UFC lately,
01:36specifically where they've had multiple lawsuits against them brought by former fighters
01:40trying to get a bigger piece of the pie,
01:43where they're trying to get more of a straight split like you have in some of these other major sports,
01:49sports like the NBA or the NFL where it's like a 50-50 revenue sharing.
01:53You've seen lawsuits and class actions trying to get that for past fighters, for current fighters,
01:58and there's been some settlements that I don't think have gone through
02:00and other cases that have been brought up.
02:03So there's been a big thing in combat sports.
02:05These guys and these girls putting themselves on the line,
02:07putting their future health on the line,
02:10and not getting anything that can sustain them throughout the rest of their life.
02:14This is something that would be very interesting if they could do that.
02:16As I said, Dave Thillman tried to come up with a pension plan years ago that he proposed.
02:19Being in that world for a long time, being in boxing, combat sports,
02:22trying to do right by the fighters because he was a former fighter.
02:25And Conor McGregor, obviously a big part of the ownership, is a current fighter
02:28and has made plenty of money enough to sustain half the roster, I'm sure, for the rest of their life.
02:33But has been on the other side of these negotiations,
02:36and now they're trying to do that with these fighters with this ownership stake.
02:40And that could be something that hopefully works out huge for the fighters.
02:42Now there's different levels, of course, as you said.
02:44If you're a champion, you get a bigger piece.
02:46I believe if you make 10 title defenses, you get $3 million.
02:51You get $1 million if you win a title and make any defenses.
02:55So, of course, 10 title defenses is going to be a lot for anybody in combat sports.
02:58Any title defense is big.
03:00That's a good payday to help you sustain for a little while, hopefully afterwards.
03:04I'm sure there's other levels as well.
03:05Like you said, if you're a longtime fighter, fighters like Faria and Britton Hart and Travis
03:11the Animal Thompson, who have been around fighting nine, ten times for the organization, are going to get a good piece.
03:17And the more these fighters fight, the better chance they'll get.
03:19And the BKFC has always been game to keep fighters around.
03:22They're not one to, even with a credit record sometimes, get rid of guys.
03:26I mean, look at Julian Lane and the long streak that he was on losing, and they didn't get rid of him.
03:30They brought him back, and he has started to turn things around, and now is fighting for a title.
03:34So Dave Feldman does not give up on fighters easily.
03:37And it seems like he's trying to do the right thing here to take care of them, not just for why, when they're fighting with them, but for the long term.
03:43And I applaud that.
03:45I applaud what him and Connor are trying to do here.
03:47Hopefully it works out to the benefit of most, if not all, the roster.
03:50And, you know, hopefully it's something that we could, if it works, implement throughout combat sports in other areas and other organizations as well.
