John Dodson is the BKFC flyweight champ.
Sounds great on paper, but the frustrated “Magician” has not competed in bare knuckle boxing for over two years and can’t understand why the promotion won’t book his BKFC return. Perhaps it was too busy courting other UFC veterans, like former welterweight title challenger Darren Till.
“[BKFC] is the one who signed me [to] a new contract saying that I can’t fight for any other promotions,” Dodson told MMA Fighting. “So I’ve been waiting for them to go ahead
and give me my next victim. They 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 okay cool, I’m 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 I’m like yo, when the hell am I going to get the chance to fight?”
Dodson’s last BKFC fight came in a unanimous draw against Dagoberto Aguero at BKFC 59 back in March 2024. The former UFC flyweight title challenger went on to split a pair of fights under the RIZIN banner in 2024 and 2025 and is patiently awaiting his next BKFC assignment.
Dodson (4-0-1) signed a new deal after his last RIZIN fight that prevents him from competing outside the promotion; which he doesn’t mind, so long as BKFC keeps him active. Unfortunately, we’re heading into May 2026 and the 41 year-old “Magician” has yet to secure a date for his in-ring return.
“Apparently they can do whatever they want with me and pretty much [hold me] as a hostage,” Dodson continued. “I need to go ahead and figure this out. This is frustrating. Because I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t 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, they’re just going to postpone you having a fight ever. They’re not doing me a favor because I’m literally holding their belt. I’m promoting them. I’m 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 I’m their champion. Why can’t they take care of their champion?”
A question Mike Perry was asking when he defected to Netflix MMA.
“You know, last year, I was going to fight in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, [and] end up fighting in October,” Perry told MMA Fighting. “Dude, I was supposed to fight every month in ‘25. Every month they told me, next month.”
Perry, 34, has two fights remaining on his BKFC deal.
