Latest news with #IceWars
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Real-life 'Slap Shot': Inside the unbridled chaos of Ice Wars, BKFC's push into organized hockey fights
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. — The fictional hockey world had the Hanson brothers, a bespectacled trio who came to the Charlestown Chiefs from the North American Hockey League, where gooning it up was a way of life. The nonfictional Ice Wars, which came into existence with its first-ever event this past Saturday at the Soaring Eagle Resort and Casino in the middle of central Michigan, has the LaPorte brothers, Nick and Will, 6-foot-6 hockey specimens who throw hands more for simple pleasure. It was a wild scene in Mt. Pleasant for the inaugural event, which functioned as an arm of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). It had been dubbed Ice Wars: Battle of the Border. The center of the action was a miniature 800-square foot rink, known as the Ice Box, enclosed by pliable wooden boards. Along the side sat the VIPs, who were close enough to the action at times to whisper sweet nothings into the bleeding ears of the combatants. The ice lay like a sheet of porcelain, virginal in its whiteness, yet ominous too — as if quietly anticipating a crime scene. Advertisement In fact, if you looked closely, you'd see that it wasn't ice at all; it was 'synthetic ice,' which is an elegant way of saying plastic. The only thing frozen in the room were the daiquiris up top. Had a Zamboni come through it would have wrecked the whole rig. Each one of the 20 total fighters — half of them Canadians, the other half American — made the walk across a stage and through fountains of shooting sparks. They wore blade protectors on their skates, which they slipped out of as they pulled up ice-side, the way UFC fighters remove their shirts. The referees, sporting helmets and striped shirts just like you'd see in an NHL game, made the scene almost comical. All the familiarity of hockey with nary a puck or a stick in sight. Ice Wars super heavyweight Catlin Big Snake skates for his bout against Zach Hughes. (Photo via RGBTV Photography) The fighters wore gaudy yellow hockey jerseys, which could be spotted from the nosebleeds easy enough. Not that there were nosebleeds. The ballroom was intimate, with a seating capacity just over 2,000, and more than 1,800 of those seats filled with curious onlookers, many of whom delighted in the novel approach of taking the game of hockey out of the fighting. Advertisement 'I've had fights in MMA, and this is the most fun fighting I've ever had in my life,' the super heavyweight Zach Hughes told me perhaps 45 minutes after he got flattened by Catlin Big Snake, a.k.a. 'The Chief,' a slab of humanity from Alberta who not so long ago dressed for the Monroe Moccasins of the Western Professional Hockey League. 'All the guys here are great. Me and 'Chief' have already been sitting here bulls***ing after the fight.' The founder of Ice Wars, Charlie Nama, warned me that it's a different vibe than other combat sports. That the guys who were swinging hammers at each other's heads would be drinking beers together within an hour of the stitches being cinched. He wasn't wrong. The bar was full of barroom brawlers who just happen to know how to skate, most of them based north of the Great Lakes. Many of them had lush playoff beards too, even if the closest playoff team to Mt. Pleasant was over a thousand miles away in Edmonton. After each introduction, the players skated forward in the Ice Box, circling each other just like you'd seen when they drop gloves in the sanctioned hockey world. You could feel the spirit of 'Tie Domi' bouncing off the walls. Then they'd start swinging, which can be exhilarating for an offshoot combat sport that isn't entirely sanctioned. In fact, it's not sanctioned at all! Advertisement (Except for in Wyoming.) Nobody was losing time thinking about taboos or niches, though, because the rounds are 90-second affairs, and this is an action league. The fighters would grab a fistful of jersey, then jostle each other toward their incoming fists. Lots of jerking, twisting and thrashing, a sadistic little tango. The fists crashing off of helmets fast and furious. Uppercuts finding a home for those who tried to plant their head into a chest. Short, quick punches, looping right hands. Guys wincing, skating off with dangling arms. Holding their rib cages from unexpected body shots, or from crashing into the synthetic ice. There was blood which had to be squeegeed off from time to time. Advertisement If there was a surprise, it was that the first three fights all went to decisions, because the idea of Ice Wars is to create knockouts. Viral knockouts. The kind of thing that might grab attention when sliding down a scroll. The first finish came when Nick LaPorte, one of the twins who happens to be a cast member on the Canadian television show 'Shoresy,' scored a TKO over Matt 'Dunner' Dunn. The crowd let up a tremendous roar as he got his hand raised. LaPorte had predicted to me he'd finish his opponent in 11 seconds the night prior while crushing a pizza at the Soaring Eagle food court, which turned out to be ambitious. As it stood, he did so in just under a minute. 'The ice was a little tougher than I thought,' Laporte said afterward, showing me a fun cartoon graphic he'd made which said 'Dunn in One' on his phone. 'I had to get moving around a bit just to get a little bit more of an edge. After that, nah, it went exactly as I thought it would. I thought it was going to be quick and it went exactly like I thought.' Nick LaPorte comforts Matt Dunn after knocking him out. (Photo via RGBTV Photography) As for the judges, three of them sat at opposite corners of the Ice Box. There was four-time Stanley Cup champion Darren McCarty of the Detroit Red Wings, who had a stringy Layne Staley-like braid in his beard (which was pink). McCarty made a name for himself when he made Claude Lemieux turtle up in a fight at Joe Louis Arena. At one point, when a kid named Andre Thibault from the French-Canadian league (a veteran of hundreds of fights) shoved Elias Thompson's head over the boards near where McCarty was stationed, the Detroit legend turned and gave an approving nod to his fellow judge sitting down the way. Advertisement That would be Jon 'Nasty' Mirasty, one of the meanest SOBs to ever play hockey. He was notorious for laughing during his fights, which were plenty. He spent time on the Danbury Thrashers, a minor league team which inspired a documentary about the style of play (fights, fights and more fights). He was still rocking his traditional mohawk, and his nose lay a little crooked across his face. The last judge was Frank 'The Animal' Bialowas, who racked up his share of penalty minutes too. He played four games for Toronto Maple Leafs and had 12 penalty minutes. In 1993 alone, he had 352 penalty minutes while playing with the St. John's Maple Leafs. 'I've fought everybody there is,' he told me. And when I inquired about the scoring criteria, well, let's just say it's based more on expert gut feeling than anything scientific. There is no 10-point must system in Ice Wars. That kind of thing bores the hell out of enforcers on the ice. The fights are judged as whole, rather than round-by-round. 'You just know who won,' Bialowas told me when elaborating. 'You can tell.' Will LaPorte downs James Brooks in Ice Wars' debut main event. (Photo via RGBTV Photography) Were there moments when Ice Wars felt like a smoker show? Sure. There was a fog layer hanging over the synthetic ice surface, and there were a few 'kick his ass Seabass' and 'U.S.A' chants to be heard. The low-rent nature of a first show wasn't without charm. And there was royalty there, too. Thomas 'Hitman' Hearns — the 'Motor City Cobra' himself — sat up close to the action, watching a subgenre of the fight game find out if it has any legs. Advertisement What was the man who stood toe-to-toe with Marvin Hagler in one of the greatest boxing matches of our lifetimes thinking as jerseies were being pulled over heads? The only thing he'd offer was a gentle smile. And in the end, it was a fight between Bay City's own Ryan Snobeck and Alex Marchisell — or 'Marchy' as he's known up in the Great White North — that whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Snobeck had showed up in a patriotic speedo for the weigh-ins, so you knew he meant business. He and "Marchy" latched on and swung at range, mercilessly, absorbing whatever the other was willing to dish out. The entire crowd stood. The commentary team of former UFC fighters Ian Heinisch and Chris Camozzi provided the soundtrack, as their play-by-play boomed over the speakers for everyone to hear. Including the principals themselves, who just kept slamming fists into the meat spots. It was a frenzied moment that perhaps showed the potential of what Ice Wars could be if enough caution is thrown to the wind. Advertisement 'I had 52 friends show up,' Snobeck told me after. 'I had a high-school cheering section, and I did each of their tickets individually at the will call. I even did the seating chart for them. I wanted everybody to sit next to somebody that they enjoyed. I took a lot of pride in this whole thing. Ryan Snobeck celebrates after his wild win over Alex Marchisell. (Photo via RGBTV Photography) 'And when I met Alex, which I believe was Friday during the whole weigh-in, I said, 'let's put on a great show and throw punches,' and we shook each other's hand and that was it. That was it.' Can Ice Wars catch on? It's too early to tell, but the first show had its moments. One of my favorites was when Camozzi brought his BKFC belt over to face off with Esteban Rodriguez, and things got physical. Each fighter began leaning into the other, like linemen colliding at the line of scrimmage, and they were putting hands on each other with a shared thought running between them as the tussle dragged on — is somebody going to break this up? Advertisement It turned out, no, nobody was going to break it up. Everybody just stood and watched. They tussled for at least 20 to 30 seconds, an eternity, with Camozzi at one point putting his hand around Rodriguez's neck. Each looked around for the intervention. Finally, somebody did step in, but it was a classic moment of a fledgling show. Some of the kinks will need to be worked out. Saturday's event will debut on the BKFC app this Wednesday, June 18. The second card will take place in Alberta in two weeks. In a couple of months, Ice Wars will have a show in Tampa, which they promise will be the first with real ice. After all, you can't be the Ice Wars if you're fighting on plastic. Ice is central to the equation. And so are the cult figures. The fictional world of hockey had the Hanson brothers, who put foil on their knuckles and roughed up vending machines. If Ice Wars can produce anything like the real-life equivalent? Well, that's what Charlie Nama and company are hoping to find out.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
'Balance is everything': UFC alum Ian Heinisch finds traction with Ice Wars, BKFC fights on ice
'Balance is everything': UFC alum Ian Heinisch finds traction with Ice Wars, BKFC fights on ice Finding the perfect balance in life is important. It might be even more important in BKFC Ice Wars. If not, you might be in trouble. Fighting an opponent is difficult enough? But fighting physics if you don't have the tools? That sounds like an equal challenge – and the coinciding struggles is all part of the fun, says its president and former UFC fighter Ian Heinisch. "Balance is everything in this sport, so hockey players do have the advantage there," Heinisch recently told MMA Junkie. "But the fighters have that grit, that clinch work. They probably have more power in the hands. But that's what makes it so interesting. You have to have that full package of balance, of being good on skates most importantly because I don't care how hard you can throw a punch. If you can't balance, you're just going to fall down. It's going to be interesting to see who has the advantage. So far, I've seen more seasoned vets on the ice, enforcers, have the advantage. But now we have some UFC vets who can skates, so it's going to be very interesting to see how they fair against some of these hockey players." The start-up ice fighting series of the world's leading bareknuckle boxing brand is set to debut Saturday. It'll feature combatants from across the combat sports world, but also ex-hockey enforcers. It'll stream live and free across various platforms including YouTube, in an effort to spread brand awareness. But Heinisch thinks it won't take long before fight fans become well-acquainted. Heinisch never envisioned getting into the promoting game, but the opportunity fell in his lap. He's happy it did. His competitive career was cut short due to brain injuries, though he's doing better now. Heinisch found success in the crypto world, and now adds Ice Wars to his diverse portfolio. "It's going to take off," Heinisch said, confidently. The concept was developed by a third party, which ran a pilot series months prior to its BKFC partnership. With much room to grow and the previous owner encountering health issues, BKFC president David Feldman got involved and soon Heinisch, who had commentated the fights held under the previous regime, was named Ice Wars president. "I was introduced through some friends," Heinisch said. "It was kind of like the beta testing for the Ice Wars concept. It was a lesser-production regional thing. They were kind of testing it out but I was one of the lead commentators then. I saw the fights and I had no idea what to expect, but it was special. These fights were incredible. There were so many techniques that I could've never imagined would be for hockey fighting. Some people were in the clinch. Some people had their hands down skating backward, slipping and ripping. I said, 'You know what? This is special. But the show is ran terribly.' It didn't have good backing but I stayed in touch with the owner. He had a life-threatening condition where he had to get heart surgery. We just stayed in touch and he eventually got this connection with Dave Feldman and BKFC and they basically said they were going to fully back it. They wanted to make in the sister company of BKFC. They loved the idea. Originally, I was just going to be the commentator but I was offered to step into a partial owner and be the president of the promotion, so I jumped all over it. I thought it was a great opportunity for me. I have the connections. I've seen poorly-ran promotions and I've see the highest of the high with the UFC, so I was all about it. I believe in what they're doing and I believe this is absolutely going to skyrocket." BKFC Ice Wars 1: "Battle at the Border" takes place at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. – on Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe reservation land. Heinisch said the company is working to get the sport sanctioned in ABC commission-regulated areas as well. The BKFC brass has recent experience, having led the charge in getting bareknuckle boxing, a sport long outlawed, sanctioned in dozens of states. "We're in uncharted territories but we have someone who has been through all of this before, Dave Feldman," Heinisch said. "Him getting bareknuckle sanctioned in all these states, and now them being one of the top fight promotions. So there are all these hoops to jump through. It's just such a new concept but we are being well-received in many states and I believe after they see these fights and they see this is an actual new sport, I think it's going to be opened up nationwide." Heinisch anticipates Saturday's launch will kick off an ambitious schedule of six-to-eight events in 2025, followed by 20-24 in 2026. Fighters are being signed to multifight deals. Two such examples are former UFC fighters Brian Kelleher and Charles Rosa, who have yet to have their debut matchups announced. "We have a lot of interest," Heinisch said. "People love this concept. But when you have the BKFC backing us, we have major interest with sponsors. We have an incredible team. We have an amazing startup guy from Tom Brady's portfolio. We have Dave Feldman guiding us, his production team, his marketing team, sponsors. Obviously now, I'm bringing in my fight knowledge. I'm having fighters in my DMs all the time. It's just proof of concept. Like, we don't even have an official fight. Yes, Ice Wars have been done before but that was with gloves. This is bareknuckle Ice Wars. Right now, we already have peaked the interest of the entire MMA community and boxing community and bareknuckle boxing community. I think after this first fight, the floodgates are going to open."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ice Wars' mission statement is simple — let's take the hockey out of fighting
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. — For years there's been an outcry among hockey purists who've seen just about enough of the goonery that had come to mark the game — get the fighting out of hockey. If you're one of those, you might want to cover your children's eyes. Because as we reach the quarter mark of the 21st century, there's a group of organizers who are taking things a step further. They are attempting to take the hockey out of fighting. Advertisement On Saturday night, the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) will pull up its jersey sleeve to reveal an icy arm to go along with the naked knuckles. They call it Ice Wars. It's essentially sanctioned hockey fights, which aren't as spontaneous as the ones you see in a professional hockey game, but entirely premeditated and twice as vicious. The slogan they are using for the inaugural event, which takes place this Saturday in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, is as if lifted straight from the label on the Jolt cola can. 'The most exciting part of hockey, without all the hockey. No sticks. No pucks. No goals. Just the fights.' Take a bath, Connor McDavid. Get screwed Nathan McKinnon. To hell with you, Cale Makar. These gloves aren't going to drop themselves! Advertisement 'I always thought the fights were the coolest part about hockey,' Ian Heinisch says. Heinisch, a former UFC fighter, has been named the first president of Ice Wars, and — not surprisingly — he never appreciated those times when he'd find himself watching fights only to see a hockey game break out. 'I wasn't a huge fan of hockey, but I would watch it if it was on," he says. "It's a good sport, the agility, but the fights were fun. They don't really fight as much in hockey anymore. And I was always a fan of that aspect, a fan of fighting on the ice.' The first event goes down at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, on a fight-tailored sheet of ice. There are 10 scheduled fights that will take place on the ring-sized rink, spread across four weight classes — super heavyweight (more than 250 pounds), heavyweight (more than 200), cruiserweight (175-200), middleweight (150-175), and lightweight (under 150). What, you didn't think there'd be weight classes? Advertisement Who do you think is running this show, barbarians? 'It is going to look like a boxing ring a little bit bigger, but it's going to have walls — wood walls, not rope,' Heinisch says, indicating the boards. 'And as of now we're going to have synthetic ice, but we're looking at some arenas down the line that we're going to have real ice.' There will be two referees to stand idly to the side as the fight takes place. From the rules that the BKFC sent out, there will be at least three 90-second rounds for each scrap, with a maximum of five rounds, with a one-minute respite to set the jersey to rights. You get the sense that some of this stuff is malleable, as they figure it all out. And, oh yes, the fighters — comprised of former MMA fighters, boxers, and pro hockey players — will be wearing hockey jerseys, which are a key component to a hockey fight. The old Winnipeg gi is central to leveraging. The fistful of jersey, the twisting and contorting of the body, the pulling of the jersey over the head in a tangle of defending and swinging limbs. 'I mean it's like a boxing fight, right?' Heinisch says. 'You knock 'em down, it's a count. I think they're tweaking some of the round stuff. It's a short fight, pure action, smashing each other in the middle of the rink, and then if it's a tie in the one-on-one round, they go into an icebreaker round.' Advertisement Technically nobody is really dropping their gloves either, as each combatant will be wearing four-ounce MMA gloves. This is meant to protect the knuckles more than the skulls being targeted. As far as I know, fighters won't be permitted to take off skates to turn them into weapons. And as for hockey sticks — well, none of these people will be needing them. Toe-drags are things of beauty in a parallel world, but not for the Ice Wars aesthetic. Saturday night's first show is being called 'Battle of the Border,' as it pits Canadians versus Americans. A cold war of sorts, but only because of the northerly geography (the second event will take place River Cree Casino in Alberta two weeks later). 'We have pro hockey players, boxers,' Heinisch says, just as a collector might point out some of the lovely antiquities on his shelf. 'We have bare-knuckle guys, two UFC vets that we signed.' Those UFC fighters are Brian Kelleher and Charles Rosa, each who played hockey growing up, each who played punch-face for a living. Advertisement 'This is like the old-school days of UFC, where you had a jiu-jitsu guy against a wrestler against a boxer, except who you're seeing who's the baddest man on the ice," Heinisch says. "And the Canadians have a huge advantage. They grew up on skates. They have that balance. But you also have the American side of it, which is mainly better fighters, quicker hands, better boxing. So, people like Rosa or Kelleher.' If this all sounds like we've died and gone to goon heaven, it's because Heinisch — along with BKFC head David Feldman and Ice Wars founder Charlie Nama, who is as Canadian as they come — have made it that way. The rink is topsy-turvy. Enforcers are in. Skilled players are out. 'These guys, the fighters, their first love was hockey fighting, so it was a perfect fit for them,' Heinisch says. 'They saw it, they were in love with it. They jumped on board. They called me and we got 'em signed. So we've stacked the card, we're signing people long-term. We plan on doing around six fights this year and then we're looking at doing around 20 to 24 fights next year.' Advertisement Not that the supervisors of Ice Wars hope to need them, but there will be three judges for each fight, as well. The criteria for scoring will be based on effective striking, effective aggressiveness, and control of the fighting area. Damage is a key factor. Control, too. The idea, just like in MMA, is to keep the judges strictly ornamental. The idea is for knockdowns, knockouts, and dudes scrambling on all fours for their teeth. 'We're going to have blood on ice dropping,' Heinisch says. 'Imagine getting knocked out cold on the ice. I mean, you're going to see some crazy stuff just like at bare-knuckle. It's going to be action packed. 'And I think the gambling is going to be insane. We're making sure there aren't any draws, never want the fight to go to a draw. So it's going to be very appealing for people like gambling sites and stuff like that. It's going to be exciting.' Heinisch has seen some stuff in his day. He's seen the inside of the Canary Islands' prison and the colorless bricks of Riker's Island, from back when he was a drug mule. He has seen incoming fists from UFC middleweight contenders, such as Nassourdine Imavov, Derek Brunson and Kelvin Gastelum. He walked away from active fighting when the concussions took their toll, but he says he is healthy and enjoying life at 36. Advertisement Now he's overseeing a new game in town, a fights-on-ice league that does away with nuisance of actual hockey. Can it work? We're about to find out.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO) to Stream BKFC Ice Wars' 'Battle of the Border' USA vs. Canada Fight Night in Over 200 Countries
June 18, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT at ( LOS ANGELES, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO), an award-winning, creator-first music, entertainment, and technology platform, today announced a partnership with new combat discipline BKFC Ice Wars for their upcoming 'Battle of the Border' USA vs. Canada event. The 'Battle of the Border' is slated to showcase ten head-to-head bouts, featuring twenty elite fighters from the United States and Canada who will square off in 'The Ice Box,' a 900-square foot ice enclosure designed specifically for ice fighting. LiveOne will be hosting the livestream for this groundbreaking event on June 18, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT at ( Rob Ellin, CEO and Chairman of LiveOne, commented, 'As a livestream distribution partner, we're excited to partner with BKFC Ice Wars ahead of their first televised event under the new BKFC Ice Wars banner. LiveOne's first-class streaming platform reaches over 200 million viewers and generates more than 5 billion fan engagements across 220 countries—ensuring BKFC Ice Wars' unique brand of combat sports gets the global attention it deserves.' Charlie Nama, CEO of BKFC Ice Wars, added, 'As Ice Wars' reputation grows and demand for our events continues to soar, LiveOne's world-class streaming partnership empowers us to deliver our one-of-a-kind entertainment to an even broader audience. We're thrilled to bring our fans closer than ever to the action.' About LiveOneHeadquartered in Los Angeles, CA, LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO) is an award-winning, creator-first, music, entertainment, and technology platform focused on delivering premium experiences and content worldwide through memberships and live and virtual events. LiveOne's subsidiaries include Slacker, PodcastOne (Nasdaq: PODC), PPVOne, CPS, LiveXLive, DayOne Music Publishing, Drumify and Splitmind. LiveOne is available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Spotify, Samsung, Amazon Fire, Android TV, and through STIRR's OTT applications. For more information, visit and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X at @liveone. For more investor information, please visit About BKFC Ice Wars BKFC Ice Wars is the first promotion to hold legal, sanctioned and regulated hockey fights. Based in Michigan, and headed by BKFC Executive Charlie Nama, Ice Wars is a brand-new combat sport consisting of elite hockey enforcers squaring off in 'The Ice Box,' a 900-square foot enclosure designed specifically for ice fighting. It's hockey fights, without the hockey. For more information, visit and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X. 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These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including: LiveOne's reliance on its largest OEM customer for a substantial percentage of its revenue; LiveOne's ability to consummate any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, special dividend, merger, distribution or transaction, the timing of the consummation of any such proposed event, including the risks that a condition to the consummation of any such event would not be satisfied within the expected timeframe or at all, or that the consummation of any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, merger, special dividend, distribution or transaction will not occur or whether any such event will enhance shareholder value; LiveOne's ability to continue as a going concern; LiveOne's ability to attract, maintain and increase the number of its users and paid members; LiveOne identifying, acquiring, securing and developing content; LiveOne's intent to repurchase shares of its and/or PodcastOne's common stock from time to time under LiveOne's announced stock repurchase program and the timing, price, and quantity of repurchases, if any, under the program; LiveOne's ability to maintain compliance with certain financial and other debt covenants; LiveOne successfully implementing its growth strategy, including relating to its technology platforms and applications; management's relationships with industry stakeholders; LiveOne's ability to repay its indebtedness when due; LiveOne's ability to satisfy the conditions for closing on its announced additional convertible debentures financing; uncertain and unfavorable outcomes in legal proceedings and/or LiveOne's ability to pay any amounts due in connection with any such legal proceedings; changes in economic conditions; competition; risks and uncertainties applicable to the businesses of LiveOne's subsidiaries; ; and other risks, uncertainties and factors including, but not limited to, those described in LiveOne's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on July 1, 2024, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, filed with SEC on February 14, 2025, and in LiveOne's other filings and submissions with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and LiveOne disclaims any obligation to update these statements, except as may be required by law. LiveOne intends that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. LiveOne Press Contact:press@ Follow LiveOne on social media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X at @ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
BKFC unveils Ice Wars, new on-ice league for 'legal, sanctioned and regulated hockey fights'
BKFC is about to make hockey's favorite minigame its own league. (Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) (Boston Globe via Getty Images) BKFC is moving from the ring to the ice with its latest venture. The leader in bare-knuckle boxing announced Wednesday that it has acquired a stake in on-ice fight league Ice Wars, to create BKFC Ice Wars — touted Wednesday as a combat sports promotion specializing in "legal, sanctioned and regulated hockey fights." And yes, it's exactly how it sounds: Combat on ice, as you'll often see in the middle of a hockey game. Advertisement Ice Wars founder Charlie Nama is set to helm the project as CEO, with the first event titled "Battle of the Borders," pitting Americans vs. Canadians on June 14 in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Both Nama and BKFC founder David Feldman released the following statements Wednesday via press release. Feldman: "We've been watching what the team at Ice Wars has been building, and it's been incredible to see the passionate response they've received from audiences. Their vision and energy align perfectly with what we do at BKFC — bringing raw, high-adrenaline combat sports to fans in a way they've never seen before. Partnering with them to create BKFC Ice Wars was an easy decision, and we're excited to take this to the next level together." Nama: "Partnering with BKFC is a game-changer for Ice Wars. BKFC's backing gives us the platform and resources to bring our sport to the world stage, creating a new frontier in combat sports. This isn't just a partnership — it's the fusion of two high-energy, no-holds-barred fight disciplines into one powerhouse league. Our first event is just the beginning, and we're building something that will redefine international prizefighting competition and entertainment." BKFC Ice Wars won't be as simple as, "Go out and fight on the ice." The new fight league will have its own set of rules, starting with bouts that consist of three or five 90-second rounds with one-minute breaks between them. Two referees will oversee the action with three rink-side judges scoring the fights as a whole, not round-by-round. Fighters will wear traditional hockey gear and four-ounce MMA gloves. Advertisement Weight classes and the official scoring criteria can be seen below. Scoring criteria - Judges shall evaluate the bout based on effective striking (Plan A), effective aggressiveness (Plan B), and control of the fighting area (Plan C). Plans B and C are only taken into consideration if Plan A is weighed as being even. Effective striking is judged by determining the impact/effect of legal strikes landed by a fighter solely based on the results of such legal strikes. Effective aggressiveness means aggressively making attempts to finish the fight. Fighting area control is assessed by determining who is dictating the pace, place and position of the bout. Weight Classes - Heavyweight (over 200 lbs.) Cruiserweight (175 to 200 lbs.) Middleweight (150 to 175 lbs.) Lightweight (under 150 lbs.) The first BKFC Ice Wars event is expected to be a 12-fight card. Instead of a traditional hockey ice rink, fights will occur in 'The Ice Box,' a 900-square-foot ice enclosure designed specifically for ice fighting. The sequel event is already planned for later the same month, on June 28, in Enoch, Alberta, Canada. BKFC Ice Wars is targeting at least four more events to finish out 2025 afterward.
