By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Triller on Wednesday announced it had purchased Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) in the media platform’s latest foray into the combat sports sector.
BKFC, which launched in 2018, pits bare-knuckled fighters against each other in brutal two-minute rounds. It is regulated in 18 American states and Mexico.
“We see this as both a natural evolution and also a revolution for combat sports,” Ryan Kavanaugh, who co-founded Triller’s boxing league Triller Fight Club, said in a statement.
“Our goal has been to continue to bring the younger generation and combat sports viewership together… and BKFC does just that.”
Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
BKFC fighters include UFC veterans Paige VanZant, Mike Perry, Chad Mendes, Johnny Bedford, Thiago Alves, Luis Palomino, Hector Lombard, Joe Riggs and 2016 U.S. Olympic boxing bronze medalist Nico Hernandez.
The two-year-old Triller has made its name by hosting exhibition boxing matches including the popular 2020 pay-per-view bout between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.
Last year it launched Triad Combat, which merges elements of boxing and mixed martial arts.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; editing by Clare Fallon)
