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John Dodson is frustrated with the lack of fight dates since signing an exclusive deal with BKFC, having last fought in March 2024. He is eager to defend his flyweight title but has received no updates from the promotion.
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John Dodson just wants to fight but he canât seem to get BKFC to give him a date much less an opponent.
Following a blistering 4-0-1 start to his bare-knuckle career, which included claiming the BKFC flyweight title, the UFC veteran was anxious to receive some news about defending his belt when he was invited to attend the promotionâs champion summit back in July 2025. It was at that time BKFC signed Dodson to a new exclusive deal after he had previously split time between bare-knuckle fights and competing in RIZIN in Japan.
But since putting pen to paper, Dodson claims heâs only heard excuses why he hasnât been booked and heâs still no closer to a return to action with his most recent BKFC fight happening all the way back in March 2024.
âBare-knuckle is the one who signed me [to] a new contract saying that I canât fight for any other promotions,â Dodson told MMA Fighting. âSo Iâve been waiting for them to go ahead and give me my next victim. They brought me out to the championâs summit when they were out in Florida and all of the champions were out there. Conor McGregor made a spectacle. Everybody was sitting there talking about the big man, giant tournament that theyâre going to have for the worldâs baddest man and the worldâs baddest bitch tournament coming out soon shortly afterwards.
âThey forced me to watch the inaugural flyweight interim world champion fight happen, which pissed me off, because I asked to fight both those guys and they told me neither one of them were ready for me. I got a winner and then OK cool, Iâm going to fight one of these dudes, I thought I was going to fight the winner. Andrew [Strode] vacated the title and then Gee [Perez] has been fighting left and right so Iâm like yo, when the hell am I going to get the chance to fight?â
It was after his most recent appearance in RIZIN that Dodson says BKFC asked him to either sign an exclusive deal or relinquish his belt. He was more than happy to commit to bare-knuckle fighting, but he never imagined the result would be even more time off.
âRight after my last RIZIN fight, I went out there and we signed a new deal and they sat there and said I canât have any other outside fights,â Dodson said. âI canât go back to mixed martial arts. I canât do anything else because if I do, I vacate the title. Thatâs why they sat there and made an interim champion, I guess. I was like, no, I was waiting for you guys to give me a call, waiting for me to go ahead and step up.
âI donât care where I fight. I just want to get back into the squared circle and knock somebody out so we can get moving forward in this next process after this.â
John Dodson has not fought since March 2024 due to a lack of communication and scheduling from BKFC after signing an exclusive deal.
John Dodson started his bare-knuckle career with a record of 4-0-1 and claimed the BKFC flyweight title.
The champion summit was significant as it was where Dodson was signed to a new exclusive deal and learned about upcoming events, including a major tournament.
Dodson is concerned that his exclusive contract with BKFC has led to delays in booking his fights, leaving him without an opponent or fight date.

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May marks a full year since Dodson last fought and at 41 years old, even feeling great and staying ready to compete, he knows time isnât on his side when it comes to his combat sports career. Dodson has been anxious to stay busy. He canât fight forever and he doesnât want his remaining years to be wasted.
Perhaps the toughest pill to swallow about the whole situation is that Dodson has been approached by numerous promoters asking about his availability, but due to his deal with BKFC, he canât book anything.
âI could be active right now because of the fact that everybodyâs asked me to come back,â Dodson said. âEven RIZINâs asked me to go out there, to go do a mixed martial arts fight out there. Iâve had some boxing promotions ask me if I want to go ahead and box. Iâve have other organizations and other things come up to me and say, âHey, would you be interested in doing it?â and I donât know how it conflicts with my bare-knuckle contract.
âIt kind of sucks because in any realm of combat sports, which it says in the contract, that I canât do any other combat sports, thereâs a lot of things that it says. Thatâs guidelines for everything. I canât do jiu-jitsu tournaments. I canât do pro wrestling. I canât do a lot of things because of the fact that Iâm locked in and waiting for them to go ahead and give me the green light to go beat up somebody.â
To be clear, Dodson has enjoyed every facet of his transition into bare-knuckle fighting and working with BKFC up until now. He still wants to be a fighting champion, but he canât do that if BKFC isnât giving him fights.
âApparently they can do whatever they want with me and pretty much [hold me] as a hostage,â Dodson said. âBecause I need to go ahead and figure this out. This is frustrating. Because I donât want to be that guy. I donât want to sit there and talk a bunch of crap about an organization because we already know how that goes. The more shit talking you do about an organization, theyâre just going to postpone you having a fight ever.
âTheyâre not doing me a favor because Iâm literally holding their belt. Iâm promoting them. Iâm showcasing how the flyweights should be interacting with the rest of the world by going out and doing all these public events and talking to people and showcasing Iâm their champion. Why canât they take care of their champion?â