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Paulie Malignaggi Vs. Artem Lobov: 5 Takeaways And How Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship's Following Skyrocketed On June 22

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The buzz surrounding the Paulie Malignaggi vs. Artem Lobov bare knuckle fight on June 22 was undeniable and reinforced in the post fight social metrics. I was so intrigued with the event that I made the four hour drive to Tampa from Fort Lauderdale to see it first hand. It didn't disappoint. At first blush, Johnny Bedford's win over Reggie Barnett Jr for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and Police Gazette lightweight titles was my favorite fight of the night, but Julian Lane's victory over Tom Shoaff could easily be fight of the night from the fans perspective. Not to mention, I was staying at the same hotel as the fighters and seeing Tom Shoaff sitting in a lounge chair, shirtless, reading a book with a skinny cigar neatly positioned inbetween his lips with not a care in the world the day before the fight just seemed so boss. From the action to the post fight sportsmanship to the characters and culture of bare knuckle, I enjoyed being a spectator on Saturday night. According to the bare-knuckle odds at MyBookie.ag, Paulie Malignaggi was the betting favorite to win at -125 while Artem Lobov was the underdog at -105 to win this fight.

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

FORMAT

The five, two minutes per round format is perfect for this type of combat sport. It allows the fighters to put their foot on the gas pedal from the opening bell and really go at it. It also creates a sense of urgency going into the final round if one fighter has been knocked down in a previous round, or it's obvious that a fighter is down on the scorecards or if it's two rounds a piece going into the fifth round. It also keeps the crowd engaged and it's nearly impossible to have a snoozer.

BARE KNUCKLES AND HITING IN THE CLINCH

I mean, it's called Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship for a reason. It's like watching an organized schoolyard fight, but with rules and a referee. Other than that, you can hear the knuckles hitting bone and flesh from at least 20 rows deep. It's almost impossible to not feel the adrenaline as the competitors exchange blows with nothing protecting their hands. With the ability to hit in the clinch, there's never a lull in the action and provides the opportunity for fighters to keep the action going, which is different than boxing. In the main event, Lobov inflicted the most damage to Malignaggi while in the clinch in round four.

SAFETY

I'm not a doctor, but, I have been working as a manager and continue to work as a second in boxing matches all over the world. Bare knuckle competitors might be experiencing more superficial injuries such as cuts and bruising in addition to the potential of a broken hand, but I can tell you that they're less susceptible to brain injuries that can occur with prolonged blows to the head.

Even legendary cutman Jacob "Stitch" Duran weighed in on the sport and saftey when I caught up with him after the weigh-in on Friday where he talked about bare knuckle being the talk of the combat sports world right now from Mayweather's Boxing Gym in Las Vegas to UFC figthers and overseas recently in Japan.

MADE FOR TV AND STREAMING

The pace of the night was such that it kept the audience engaged. I like the fact that every fight abides by the five round format. There were a few knockouts in spectacular fashion and fights that went the distance. The key factor though was that the in venue audience which was reported at 4,500 fans, were engaged the entire night. There was never a lull or sense of the audience getting impatient.

IT'S ABOUT THE FIGHTERS

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship has already garnered market share in the combat sports space and is doing the right things to build a brand. Its founder and CEO David Feldman isn't making it about him. He's making it all about the fighters. In a category where some promoters make it about themselves and outshine the fighters, Feldman has taken a backseat approach. Although he's visible, there's no ego when speaking to Feldman and he's illustrated that he's all about the progression of the sport and making sure the fighters are put first.

The post fight metrics says it all. Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship resonated across social media and has emerged as the dominant player in the sport.

NEW SUBSCRIBERS

On June 22 Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship acquired 18,071 new fans or subscribers on their social media channels, which was an increase of 4,223 percent  compared to fan growth from the previous day. The most successful channel in terms of fan growth was YouTube, where Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship added 6,100 new subscribers on the day of the fight. 

TOP PERFORMING CONTENT

The top performing piece of content posted on social media by Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship on June 22 was the Reggie Barnett Jr vs. Rusty Crowder Lightweight Quarter-Finals fight from April, which was posted in it's entirety on YouTube where it received 144,934 video views on June 22. 


WIKIPEDIA

There were 16,869 page views of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship Wikipedia page on June 22, which was an increase of 10,347 percent compared to the previous day.  

TWITTER

16,674 tweets mentioned the hashtag #BKFC6 on June 22, while the Twitter handle @bareknucklefc was mentioned in 2,553 tweets, with 521 tweets using the phrase Bare Knuckle Fighting. The Twitter handle @FiteTV was used in 2,026 tweets.

While Paulie Malignaggi might have been the more accomplished fighter coming into the bout, with Artem Lobov ending up the fight's actual winner, neither had a significant advantage in terms of social media interest. For instance, on June 22, Artem Lobov was mentioned in 6,266 tweets while Paulie Malignaggi was mentioned in 6,121 tweets. The fight had its origins in a disputed sparring session between Malignaggi and Conor McGregor in 2017, which Malignaggi felt was edited to misrepresent his performance. Lobov who's a teammate of McGregor was largely seen as a proxy fighter for that conflict, and Conor McGregor was mentioned in 1,284 tweets on June 22. 

INSIGHT

Tracy David, the Chief Marketing Officer for social analytics platform ListenFirst said, "That the top performing piece of owned social media content for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship on the sport's big night was actually a YouTube video showing a complete fight that happened back in April, speaks to the challenge in growing a sport reliant on PPV buys. You need to get potential fans excited about the product while at the same time not giving so much free access as to devalue the experience for fans who are already paying customers. The more you learn about the social media reception to your brand, the easier it will be threading that needle with the content you do share."

If Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship was a stock, I'd be buying right now.