Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) president David Feldman has insisted that talks are going "great" with Nate Diaz about his potential move to the sport.
UFC legend Diaz, 37, parted ways with the promotion in September having spent 15 years competing for the organisation, submitting fellow veteran Tony Ferguson in his final fight. As a free agent, Diaz has been linked with a fight against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul but is seemingly in discussions with leading bare-knuckle boxing promotion BKFC.
"Talks are great with Nate Diaz. We're going to have an answer here in the next week or two, but great talks with his management team," Feldman told The Schmo. "The offer is a very, very legitimate and a good offer for him. I think better than he's got anywhere else. So, I'm not saying he's definitely coming, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some of his blood on this canvas one day.
"If we want to be the biggest, baddest and best promotion out there, then we have to go after the biggest, baddest and best fighters out there and that's what we are doing. We have the funding for it now, we are in great shape to do what we want to do. That's why I feel in two years from now, we are the number two combat sports promotion in the world."
Diaz was unable to negotiate with other combat sports promotions until this month due to a three-month exclusivity period of his old UFC contract. The Stockton native was trying to leave the UFC for several months, but the promotion was unable to find him a fight until they matched him with unbeaten prospect Khamzat Chimaev, who went on to be pulled from their clash due to missing weight and was replaced with Ferguson.
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BKFC have already signed former UFC stars such as Paige VanZant and Mike Perry, with Feldman adding they want the most popular free agents on the market. He told TMZ : "I don’t mean to sound that cocky, but I want everybody. I will be in the business for every single free agent that ever comes to market now.
"That’s what’s really gonna take it for us to blow up. We’re definitely very popular around the world. People know about bare knuckle. They know BKFC. They enjoy the fights. But one of two of those names I think really catapults us.”
