Sean Wheelock reveals how creating unified rules for bare-knuckle fighting changed BKFC’s future forever

Photos by Phil Lambert

When BKFC first launched in 2018, the promotion only had a couple of options where shows could be promoted simply because state athletic commissions had not sanctioned or really even contemplated the possibility of bare-knuckle fights taking place.

Now seven years later, bare-knuckle fighting is legalized by most major commissions across the United States not to mention numerous countries around the world. In many ways, BKFC’s growth mirrors the UFC after a set of unified rules were created...