Weeks after the UFC staged the White House card, which marked the United States’ 250th anniversary, the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) appears to be paying tribute of its own with an event lined up a day before Independence Day, BKFC Liberty Brawl. While it may not match the UFC in scale and reach, the bare-knuckle promotion does not want to fall behind and is willing to take measures that may even surprise fans.

Ahead of the event, set to unfold at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena tonight, an incident during the final weigh-ins, when the BKFC president, David Feldman, shoved a fighter for unsportsmanlike conduct, points in that direction.

“What the f**k you doing, man? Why would you do that? The f**k do you that for?” Shouting at Pat Sullivan, Feldman shoved him as the security moved in to prevent matters from escalating. “What the f**k is your problem, you f**king punk?”

Feldman’s sudden burst of anger stemmed from the way Pat Sullivan pushed his opponent, Ruben Arroyo, off the stage as they faced off ahead of their five-round bout. Arroyo could have suffered injuries, which could have jeopardized the fight. With just a day remaining, the BKFC president can barely afford to lose a scheduled bout at an event so critical. The rearrangement, including the search for a last-minute replacement, is a nightmare best avoided.

Notably, the matchup has already undergone a shake-up. Sullivan was initially paired against Matt Turnbull. However, the bout was cancelled before Arroyo, who has yet to secure a professional win, stepped in to substitute.

So it’s hard to blame Feldman for getting angry when he saw Sullivan pushing the replacement fighter off the stage. As the footage showed, things rather appeared normal as the two fighters came face-to-face, with the Texas-born Arroyo even shadowboxing briefly. But the situation started to change when Feldman, who was standing between them, instructed the fighters to move forward in front of the cameras.

This led to a jostling for space, with Sullivan trying to stand in front of Arroyo to get better media coverage. Not one to be outdone, Arroyo pushed Sullivan aside to get in front. That apparently riled Sullivan, who promptly pushed Arroyo off the stage.

There’s another reason why Feldman may not want to take any chances. Earlier, the press conference of the BKFC Liberty Brawl grabbed attention when two fighters, Johnny Garbarino and Mike Richman, who fight on the main card of the event, nearly squared up after Garbarino reportedly threw cannoli at his rival.

The two were trading words from their seats before Garbarino, stung by Richman’s comments, got up from his seat to confront him. His move, however, prompted Richman, a former BKFC light heavyweight champion, to grab a chair. Before things got out of hand, the security quickly intervened and brought the situation under control.

Where the line gets crossed: the Tank Davis-Rolly Romero parallel

These developments show how conducting an event could turn out to be a nightmare even for veteran promoters.

While instances in which fighters jeopardize their fights or pre-fight events by involving themselves in brawls or exchanges are rare in the BKFC, the combat sport has seen instances where such conduct led the promoters to cancel a pre-fight event.

The most notable example resembling the incident between Sullivan and Arroyo occurred in boxing four years ago, when champion Gervonta Davis pushed his opponent, Rolando “Rolly” Romero, off the stage during the official weigh-ins for their scheduled bout for the WBA lightweight title.

Similar to Sullivan and Arroyo, Davis and Romero, who had already traded heated words, pushed and shoved each other as they faced the cameras for photographs. Things, however, touched a boiling point when Romero stepped directly in front of Davis, flexing his muscles. Taking strong exception to the move, Davis pushed the challenger off the stage.

Thankfully, nothing untoward happened as Romero landed on his feet. While he jumped back onto the platform to retaliate, security intervened, preventing a full-blown brawl before the actual fight.

Seen in that context, David Feldman’s reprimand serves as a sharp reminder that the fight business should be taken seriously. BKFC Liberty Brawl features two championship bouts. While the headliner has BKFC welterweight champion Austin Trout facing interim titlist Ben Bonner for the vacant lightweight championship, the co-main event will feature strawweight champion Britain Hart defending her title from Sarah Shell.

Given the stakes involved and the expectations, where many are expecting his promotion to stage a compelling event that marks the Independence Day celebrations, Feldman does not want to leave anything to chance, especially at the last moment.