48-Year-Old Romero Signs With BKFC

The Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) ‘Champions Summit’ was an eventful press conference. How could it not be with a riled up Conor McGregor on the mic?

There were several major announcements about the company’s future. For example, McGregor and BKFC President David Feldman offered further information about their 2026 $25 million tournament, a 32-man competition that will see one athlete walk away $15 million richer. There will also be a women’s tournament featuring major payouts, and Feldman additionally revealed that champions and long-tenured boxers will soon receive equity in the company.

MMAFighting). “So we’re going to start off with everyone one of our champions, whether they’re a U.K. champion or a world champion, or you’re a long-tenured fighter that has at least 10 fights with us, you’re all going to get equity, right here. I’m not talking about I’m going to do it next week, I’m going to do it tonight.”

Finally, BKFC announced some major new signings that should be familiar with longtime UFC fans, a mix of title challengers and former top-ranked contenders. Yoel Romero, Derek Brunson, Thiago Santos, and Aspen Ladd will all join the ranks of the squared circle, likely competitors in the aforementioned tournaments.

Romero is the biggest signing of the lot. The 48-year-old Cuban was the scariest Middleweight on the planet for quite some time, fighting for the belt multiple times even if he never officially became champion. Since leaving the UFC roster, Romero has competed for Bellator/PFL, and he most recently scored a monster knockout in Mike Perry’s Dirty Boxing Promotion.

Santos isn’t too shocking of a signing either. The former UFC Light Heavyweight title challenger has always been an aggressive knockout artist, so even if he’s riding a losing streak in MMA, BKFC feels like a natural fit for “Marreta.”

Brunson and Ladd are fairly surprising, however. Both athletes are known more for their wrestling than anything else, and Brunson was thought to be semi-retired at 41 years of age. With BKFC offering such significant payouts in these tournaments, the promotion was bound to recruit some grapplers to their all-action stand up affairs.

Will you be watching in 2026?