Fyre Festival creator Billy McFarland lands KO in Karate Combat debut as Joe Rogan watches on (2024)

Convicted fraudster Billy McFarland added a knockout bonus from his fighting debut to his Fyre Festival repayment plan last night.

The controversial businessman was jailed in 2018 after pleading guilty to 2 counts of wire fraud. He was released in 2022 after less than four years of his six year sentence, and is currently working to pay back $26million to investors in the failed festival.

Last night in front of a crowd that included UFC legend Georges St-Pierre and renowned podcaster Joe Rogan, McFarland made his debut inside the Karate Combat pit. He faced Web3 influencer Justin Custardo in an event co-promoted by the Influencer Fight Club, or IFC.

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Billy McFarland wins Karate Combat debut by KO against 42-year-old rival

McFarland’s fight took place at a Web3 event in Austin, Texas which was attended by Joe Rogan alongside comedian pals including Tony Hinchcliffe. The 32-year-old entrepreneur faced 42-year-old Custardo, who had vowed to get revenge for his opponent’s victims from the Fyre Festival controversy.

The pair competed in a contest set for three rounds of two minutes each, although McFarland managed to get the job done within the second. They were governed by Karate Combat rules which are striking based, but allow a bit of ground work before fighters are stood up.

St-Pierre was joined on the broadcast by social media star and best-selling author Mike Majlak, who co-hosts Impaulsive with Logan Paul.

However, it appeared that McFarland’s lengthy training, which included Muay Thai sessions before he was sent to jail, paid off as he dominated proceedings from early on. In the first round he dropped Custardo with a kick into a hook combination, although he did end up taken down in the latter seconds.

In the second, it was all McFarland after receiving some sage wisdom from legendary coach Phil Nurse in his corner. Custardo had clearly put his all into the opening round as he pushed for a finish on the ground, and struggled to keep up the pace against his similarly gassed opponent.

McFarland put his rival down with a big right hand at the start of the second and almost got a finish on the ground, before landing another knockdown seconds later. And with Custardo’s eye visibly marked and his gas tank depleted, a relatively soft third knockdown saw him earn a walk-off stoppage.

Billy McFarland vows to give fight purse and KO bonus to Fyre Festival victims after debut win

The Fyre Festival founder entered to boos at the Karate Combat pit, and was clearly not the fan favourite in Austin. But after an impressive performance, he turned the crowd around and ended up being serenaded with chants of “Billy, Billy, Billy” by attendees.

Speaking before the fight he had vowed to spend his fight purse on paying restitution to victims of his infamous fraud. And after the fact he was singing the same tune, branding his felony conviction the result of his past “mistakes”.

“My knockout bonus is going back to everybody I owe,” he said during his post-fight interview. “I love you guys, I’ll be there pretty soon.”

Billy McFarland trained for fighting debut during prison stay

Prior to his stint in federal prison, McFarland had begun to train in Muay Thai after piling on over 60lb during the stressful festival launch. He was unable to train properly while behind bars, but told Inside Fighting that he fashioned boxing pads out of toilet paper with his cellmates and managed to work out.

“I was able to get in five or six months of training before prison,” McFarland explained during a pre-fight chat. “Then in jail, I would literally have guys hold toilet paper rolls so they would ace bandage their hands.

“So we would kind of ‘hit the pads’ if you will in the back of the cell block. I trained formally a little bit in jail and then when I got out of jail I got back into Muay Thai.”

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