How a boxing world champion is leading a quiet revolution in the chaos of BKFC
There is no fight firm that seems as inherently outlaw as Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
Through the steady guiding hand of founder David Feldman, the upstart fight firm has gone from the fringes to, arguably, the de facto No. 2 organization in combat sports behind only the UFC. It’s raw and it’s brutal, but that’s the way its fans like it.
There is a quiet revolution happening in BKFC, though, and Austin Trout, a former world champion in boxing, is leading it. Now the No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in BKFC, Trout returns Friday in a headline bout at BKFC 85 against lightweight champion Luis Palomino, and though he’s had to adjust parts of his game, he continues to show how an elite fighter from boxing can run amok in what appears, from the outside, to be bone-cracking chaos.
Trout’s involvement is no accident.
Before he legitimized bare-knuckle boxing in 2017, Feldman promoted boxing events with Nelson Lopez Jr. as his matchmaker. Together, they organized fights in Philadelphia featuring Stephen Fulton, Caleb Plant and Jarrett Hurd — some of the most well-known fighters in American boxing today.
It’s how Trout first became aware of Feldman, with Lopez eventually recruiting him into BKFC in 2023 after a championship run in boxing that saw the former WBA super welterweight titleholder compete against Miguel Cotto, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Jermell Charlo, among others.
Now Trout is showing what an elite boxer can do when the gloves come off, when you’re ordered to toe the line, and when the sweet science is adapted for thriving in a merciless, blood-soaked ring.
“My footwork is what helps my defense more so than my head movement,” Trout told Uncrowned, describing the tactical advantages he has over fighters who enter BKFC from wrestling or MMA.
“I'm setting traps and getting in and out of range. The transition was a bit harder than I thought, and so I worked hard at clinch work, hand grappling and being able to hold a tough, strong dude.
“In boxing it's more about quick-twitch fibers. And in MMA, you have to endure holding. I had to learn how to build that skill. … I’m trying to get you out of position when you’re punching, and I try to punch when you’re punching. That's one of the best ways to catch you with something you can't see. That's what works for me.”
Although Trout didn't debut in BKFC until 2023, when he finished UFC legend Diego Sanchez in front of Sanchez's hometown fans in Albuquerque, the seeds were planted years earlier, when bare-knuckle boxing was still in its rogue infancy.
"The first bare-knuckle fight I saw was Paulie Malignaggi against Artem Lobov [in 2019]. The undercard was amazing, and I thought, ‘I would do that. I can do that,’” he said.
Trout was hooked. He became a fan.
When Uncrowned speaks with fighters in BKFC, it’s clear Trout commands the respect of the locker room — from up-and-comers to pound-for-pound elites. But he long looked up to some of the top guys himself, particularly BKFC light heavyweight champion Lorenzo Hunt, a wily veteran who keeps destroying opponents despite advancing in years.
Before he could officially follow Hunt into BKFC, Trout had to convince his family that this was the right path, especially given the money and accolades he’d already earned in boxing, and how the optics for those unfamiliar might regard bare-knuckle as savage compared to the gentlemanly reputation the gloved sport benefits from.
“[My wife, Taylor] wasn’t too happy about it. And neither was my mother," he said. "My mother was telling me she was ready for me to retire. And I was saying, ‘Damn, it's crazy you say that, because I'm actually starting a new career.’
“So, shout out to the women in my life because they've gone through a lot for my career. But I don't get hit much, at all, in this, and that's why it's still OK. If I come out with my face looking like Franco Tenaglia, it might be a problem. And you might not get to see me again.”
One thing fans might see again, though, is established boxers crossing into bare-knuckle.
“The best people [to recruit into BKFC] would be Conor [McGregor], Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua,” Feldman told Uncrowned.
Some of those names might seem unobtainable on paper, but McGregor is already an investor in the organization, Fury has bare-knuckle lineage through his family members, and "AJ" appears to prefer the sport over, say, soccer.
“Anthony Joshua did an interview and said, ‘My favorite sport is boxing, and my second favorite is bare-knuckle fighting.’ He said it. To the public,” Feldman said. “There’s guys like that out there, and I don’t think it’s far-fetched to see some of the best boxers take the gloves off and fight for BKFC.
“I’m not saying they are going to do it, and not saying they’ll not do it, but I think there’s a real chance you could see athletes from any combat sport doing Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.”
Trout believes it may be more likely that someone like Joshua follows McGregor’s lead by investing in the sport rather than competing in it. But either way, positive comments from big boxing names such as Fury and Joshua further legitimize something that was originally seen as barbaric, but is increasingly now regarded as a viable career path for veterans.
“It's a major adrenaline dump that I haven't felt since my pro debut or when I last got in a street fight decades ago,” Trout said.
“I made a pro debut all over again and it made me fall back in love with combat sports.”
If Trout represents the new breed of bare-knuckle fighter — a technical boxer thriving in a lawless battleground — then BKFC’s quiet revolution is only just beginning.
The only question now is which boxers join him.
