The BYB Extreme Fighting series has been around since 2015, but CEO Greg Bloom is relatively new at the helm. Ahead of their latest fight (a Trigon Combat gloved show Thursday night in Costa Mesa, CA, set for a 10 p.m. ET start with a $14.99 pay-per-view broadcast on FITE TV), and around the announcements of BYB Extreme 17 (a bare-knuckle fight in Rock Hill, SC on May 13) and a cross-promotional bare-knuckle Police Gazette International Cup in London (with BKB, on June 25), Bloom spoke to AA about the series and his time with them. He’s been with the promotion for three years, starting as their attorney, then stepped up to the CEO role in September 2022. And he said he’s loving the new challenges, and excited for where the promotion and the sport are going.
“It’s been very exciting for me, and I’m excited for what the future’s going to bring, and the enormous growth that’s going to come as part of it, not only for BYB but for the sport in general,” Bloom said. “It’s been challenging to say the least, but it’s been really exciting. It’s a new challenge to conquer. I’m excited to be in this position. It’s a little different on the management end, you’re managing a lot of people and a lot of personalities, but I think I’m getting accustomed to that. We have a great team, a great core team, of people who work at BYB who make the wheels move. And so that’s made my transition a lot easier.”
He said their top goal right now is just getting more people to be aware of them.
“What we’re trying to do right now is really just expose our brand to the masses. We feel we have the most exciting product in bare-knuckle fighting, let alone in combat sports. The Trigon is the smallest fighting surface in combat sports, it presses the action with proximity. Our fights are very exciting; we don’t leave them in the hands of the judges, we leave them in the hands of the fighters. And we’re really just trying first and foremost to get our product in front of everyone.”
The London event will feature English fighters from BKB going up against American fighters from BYB, with nine total matches, and the team that wins the most being awarded the Police Gazette International Cup. Bloom said that country-on-country element adds an interesting dimension.
“It’s just trying to see what country has the toughest bare-knuckle fighters. England has been known for quite some time for having a lot of tough guys, whether it’s in boxing or MMA or bare knuckle. We want to go over there with a team of our best guys and show everyone that BYB is where the toughest fighters come to participate in bare-knuckle fights.”
Bloom has almost two decades of experience in combat sports, including representing Olympic medalists, top-ranked fighters and world-champions in both boxing and MMA and serving as MMA promotion Combate Global’s general counsel for nine years. He said bare-knuckle boxing was an interesting new world for him to dive into, and he thinks it has growth potential.
“The thing that was most intriguing really was that to me, this is the most exciting of all the combat sports. It’s the most fundamental, but also the most exciting. It’s two guys seeing who has the better hands. And to me, that’s very exciting. It’s different than any other combat sport. And I think it has the most growth potential. And I think that is really what excited me the most. There’s a lot of different MMA organizations, there’s a lot of different boxing promotions, but there’s very few bare-knuckle organizations. So there’s a lot of room to grow, there’s a lot of potential market share, and I think BYB is really poised to be the next big thing in combat sports.”
So far, many of BYB’s broadcasts have been on YouTube. Bloom said they’re seeing solid numbers there, and that’s helping them grow the brand.
“They’ve been well-received. We’re averaging anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 views on our events, we’re capturing a bigger audience every time we put on a show. And slowly but surely, we’re getting our brand out there.”
He said YouTube has been a good fit in terms of reach, and they’d be open to a deeper partnership there.
“It’s interesting. It has a tremendous reach across all demographics. It would be a great home if it was something that YouTube was interested in furthering. And everyone who has a phone or a television is usually using it to go on to YouTube, it’s one of the top platforms out there. So it would be a great partnership if they’re at all interested.”
YouTube is also notable for global reach, with BYB events viewed from 127 countries so far. Bloom said that fits with what they’re trying to do.
“Part of our strategy isn’t just to stay domestic. We opened up the UAE [with a March card in Dubai; Bloom is seen at center at top there during the weigh in between Sonya Dreiling and Jessika Smith], we’ve been to London, we’re planning a few more international events for 2024. It’s very important, because combat sports is global, it’s not regional. And so we want to go to these countries. Our fight in Dubai showcased fighters from 12 different countries. So the sport is getting recognized, and the sport is getting well-received. So the more countries we can have participate, or where we can get in front of our fans in a live capacity, the better for the sport all around.”
But Bloom thinks BYB could appeal to many different kinds of broadcasters.
“There’s a lot of different platforms looking for sports content. We have what we believe to be, like I’ve mentioned, a very, very exciting, fan-friendly product. So whether it’s an outlet like Hulu or AppleTV+ or one of these video-on-demand platforms, or even a more mainstream platform like an ESPN or a TNT, we feel that our product is suited for any one of these sports outlets.”
And he thinks their next shows are going to have a lot of potential for those curious about the promotion.
“Check out our next shows in Rock Hill and London. They’re going to be real bangers. Come see what the best bare knuckle organization is doing in combat sports.”
[Photo supplied by BYB]
