Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out these photos from the bareknuckle boxing fights at BKFC 59 in Albuquerque, N.M.
Check out these photos from the bareknuckle boxing fights at BKFC 59, which took place at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, N.M. (Photos courtesy of BKFC)
John Dodson wasn’t thrilled about fighting at bantamweight because the UFC pushed for it, which didn’t go well for him.
[autotag]John Dodson[/autotag] likes his chances against UFC flyweight champion [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag].
Dodson only lost twice in the UFC as a flyweight – both title fights against Demetrious Johnson. The Season 14 “Ultimate Fighter” winner was released by the UFC in 2020 after going 4-5 as a bantamweight.
Dodson, who’s now back down at 125 pounds, said what prompted his move up to bantamweight was the UFC’s unwillingness to book a trilogy bout between him and Johnson down the line. So, seeing Brandon Moreno fight Deiveson Figueiredo four times and Pantoja three times, Dodson thinks he’d fair well against the top UFC flyweights.
“Back in my day when I was in the UFC, they sat there and told me that I couldn’t fight Demetrious Johnson for the third time, and it would be a boring fight,” Johnson told MMA Junkie Radio. “So I had to move up to 135, and I did, and look how well that turned out. Then I went back down to flyweight and look how amazing I am. I don’t even know why they haven’t chose to bring other people back in.
“They just want to get new life, new fame, new stardom, new star power to that flyweight division. More power to them, they want to keep it like a unique system for them to go ahead and make more money. Let’s just go ahead and push the older guys out who would demolish all those younger guys because I really think I can knock out Pantoja right now, too.”
Dodson defends his flyweight title against Dagoberto Aguero in the main event of BKFC 59 Friday at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, N.M.
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Former UFC flyweight title challenger John Dodson continues to build his bona fides in the world of bareknuckle boxing.
Former UFC flyweight title challenger [autotag]John Dodson[/autotag] continues to build his bona fides in the world of bareknuckle boxing and in March will headline a card as champion in front of his home fans.
Dodson will put his flyweight title on the line against Dagoberto Aguero at BKFC 59, the promotion announced Monday. The event will take place March 29 at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, N.M., which is Dodson’s home city.
“We love promoting events in Albuquerque, whether it’s the huge shows at the Tingley Coliseum or our tremendous sold-out BKFC Prospect Series event this past Friday night at the Revel,” BKFC president David Feldman said in a statement. “The deep local talent pool of great bareknuckle fighters and the overwhelming support we’ve received from local fans over the last two years makes Albuquerque one of the very best cities for BKFC.
“John Dodson has looked sensational in his first three BKFC fights, but Dagoberto Aguero is a tough and talented Dominican with an impressive professional boxing record, and he made a remarkably impressive showing in his BKFC debut in November.”
Dodson made his BKFC in August 2022 with a first-round knockout of Ryan Benoit. He followed that with two more first-round KOs against Jarod Grant and J.R. Ridge, the latter of which was for the inaugural BKFC flyweight title. All three fights took place in Albuquerque.
Aguero put together a pro boxing record of 15-2 with 10 KOs before he came to BKFC. This past November, he debuted with a third-round knockout of Chance Wilson in Florida.
Additional fights for BKFC 59 are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Check out which veterans of the UFC are competing in combat sports across the globe this weekend.
This week, the UFC remains idle during its holiday season following the final pay-per-view event of the year.
Many other combat sports events are taking place that feature several familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.
Check out which veterans of the global MMA leader are competing Dec. 29-31.
Scroll below to see how the UFC veterans fared last week, and see the names and details of this weekend’s competitors.
Upcoming event information from Tapology.
RIZIN’s New Year’s Eve event features a handful of names notable to North American MMA fans.
RIZIN 45 is officially on the calendar, and it features a handful of names notable to American viewers.
The event takes place Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, the promotion announced at a news conference Thursday. Atop the billing will be two title fights.
An inaugural RIZIN flyweight title has been implemented as former Bellator bantamweight champion [autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] (31-5) battles [autotag]Makoto Shinryu[/autotag] (16-1-1). Additionally, RIZIN bantamweight champion [autotag]Juan Archuleta[/autotag] (29-4) looks to defend his title vs. Japanese star [autotag]Kai Asakura[/autotag] (20-4).
Also on the card, former UFC title challenger and current BKFC flyweight champion [autotag]John Dodson[/autotag] (24-13) takes on [autotag]Hiromasa Ougikubo[/autotag] (25-8-2).
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With Bellator’s future uncertain, Horiguchi makes another appearance for RIZIN, a promotion for which he previously carried a bantamweight title. It’s the first fight for Horiguchi since an inaugural Bellator flyweight title fight in July that ended in a no contest after he was accidentally poked in the eye by Shinryu. The Dec. 31 fight will be a rematch, though this time for RIZIN gold.
After years of asking for crossover fights in RIZIN, Bellator product Archuleta got that in December when he defeated Soo Chul Kim at Bellator x RIZIN 1. Archuleta returned to RIZIN in May when he defeated Naoki Inoue. In July, Archuleta captured RIZIN gold when he defeated the then-champion Ougikubo. His opponent, Asakura is one of the biggest combat sports stars in the region, with wins over Horiguchi, Ougikubo, and others.
Dodson makes his second RIZIN appearance as he continues to jump back and forth over from BKFC. Thus far in RIZIN, Dodson is 2-0 with wins over Hideo Tokoro and Tatsuki Saomoto.
The current RIZIN 45 lineup includes:
Check out these photos from the BKFC 48 flyweight title main event between John Dodson and Joshua Ridge.
Check out these photos from the BKFC 48 main event, a flyweight championship bout between [autotag]John Dodson[/autotag] and Joshua Ridge. (Photos courtesy of BKFC)
Check out these photos from the bareknuckle action at BKFC 48 in New Mexico.
Check out these photos from the 12 fights at BKFC 48, which took place at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, N.M., and featured a flyweight championship bout between [autotag]John Dodson[/autotag] and Joshua Ridge. (Photos courtesy of BKFC)
Watch BKFC 48 live and free, featuring former UFC star John Dodson, YouTuber Bryce Hall, and more.
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship returned Friday with another event from Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, N.M.
BKFC 48 was headlined by former UFC title challenger [autotag]John Dodson[/autotag] who quickly defeated [autotag]JR Ridge[/autotag] to win the promotion’s flyweight title.
Also, YouTuber [autotag]Bryce Hal[/autotag]l made his bareknuckle debut against [autotag]Gee Perez[/autotag] and won by TKO due to injury at the end of Round 2.
Check out a live stream of the fights above, as well as the results and a photo gallery below.
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Check out which veterans of the UFC are in combat sports action across the globe this weekend.
This week, the UFC returns back to its home base in Las Vegas for UFC on ESPN 51.
The event at UFC Apex features a welterweight bout between [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] and former lightweight champion [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag].
Elsewhere, many other combat sports events are taking place that feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.
Check out which veterans of the global MMA leader are competing in MMA and bareknuckle boxing this week from Aug. 10-12.
Check out the names and details about their bouts below.
Upcoming event information from Tapology.
John Dodson, who’s 2-0 with two knockouts, is focused on making his mark in BKFC by becoming its first flyweight champion.
Former UFC title challenger [autotag]John Dodson[/autotag] will fight for the inaugural Bare Knuckle FC flyweight championship when he takes on J.R. Ridge in the BKFC 48 main event Aug. 11 in his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M.
Ahead of the bout, MMA Junkie Radio caught up with Dodson, who is 5-1 while competing in both bare-knuckle boxing and MMA since since he was released by the UFC in September 2020.
“I’ve been setting the standard for BKFC how flyweights should be,” said Dodson, who’s 2-0 with two knockouts in BKFC. “Everybody keeps on saying, ‘Oh, John, you keep climbing up the rankings.’ No, I’m the one who’s setting the standard. I’m setting the bar, I’m setting it super high, and I want to make sure I can continue on doing it until I retire.”
You can watch the video above for the full interview with 38-year-old Dodson in which he discusses which current MMA flyweights and bantamweights could thrive in bare-knuckle, being open to fighting for Bellator, wanting to do “American Ninja Warrior” and movie stunts after he retires, and more.
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