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BKFC President Dave Feldman spoke to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani this week about Conor McGregor’s surprise appearance that shook up the MMA world.
Over the weekend, the UFC superstar showed up to Denver, Colorado, to sit ringside at Saturday’s BKFC 41 event. McGregor watched Eddie Alvarez take on Chad Mendes in the co-main event, both of whom McGregor faced in the UFC.
@jzosportsmma Cono Mcgregor watches Eddie Alvarez and Chad Mendes fiight in #BKFC #conormcgregor #eddiealvarez #chadmendes #bkfc #bofc41
McGregor would later jump in the ring to get into a faceoff with Mike Perry, instantly getting the promotion to trend on social media.
Mike Perry/Conor McGregor Face offpic.twitter.com/gD9kplirYy
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) April 30, 2023
According to Feldman, McGregor showed up on his own accord, and the company didn’t pay him to show up.
David Feldman talks Conor McGregor. Says he wasn't paid to be at the event. Explains how it all went down.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/3ZtbIUakZH
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 1, 2023
“We were actually going to use his security before for a few things, and we were just going back and forth with them, and he said, ‘I think Conor wants to come to that event,’” Feldman said. “My guy Dave Cranston hit me up and he said Conor McGregor wants to come and I said, ‘Great, let’s get it.’ [Cranston] said, ‘I’m not 100 percent sure yet,’ and we really didn’t know until right before the event started that he was definitely coming, and then he flew out from L.A. and flew into Broomfield. We picked him up and he made an epic appearance.
“Forget that he came — that’s awesome. He got into our ring and accepted a challenge that’s probably never going to happen, let’s be honest. He’s under contract with the UFC, but you never know what happens. To accept a challenge to Mike Perry and say how much he loves this sport and, ‘It’s a great sport,’ and, ‘I have to try this,’ and, ‘Yeah, let’s do this,’ and put on one of our BKFC belts was unbelievable. It’s something that people would pay millions of dollars for that kind of notoriety, and it happened for free for us.”
Feldman believes the UFC is not happy about McGregor’s appearance.
“Yeah, certainly, I mean, if one of my guys went over there and said ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever seen,’ you know… He was with my guys saying ‘I’m going to get a phone call any minute now, just waiting for that phone call.'”
McGregor has since taken to social media after making the appearance to praise BKFC and their fighters.