Former UFC veteran John Dodson signs deal with BKFC

Former UFC title challenger John Dodson signs with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

BKFC recently announced a new name on their roster: two-time UFC title challenger John 'The Magician' Dodson. The 37-year-old joins other prominent UFC fighters such as Chad Mendes, Mike Perry, Thiago Alves and Paige Van Zant in signing with the promotion since its inception in 2018.

Below is the official announcement from the Bare Knuckle FC Twitter page:

Check out the tweet below:

John Dodson's Bare Knuckle debut is set for August 27 at BKFC 28 at the Rio Rancho Events Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His opponent is yet to be revealed.

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John Dodson's pro MMA career

Standing at just 5-foot-3, John 'The Magician' Dodson is one of the shortest MMA fighters to make big waves in the combat sport as a flyweight and bantamweight.

Dodson won his pro MMA debut in exemplary fashion with a rear-naked choke submission against Zac White at Desert Extreme. From there, he gained a mix of wins and losses across multiple fight promotions such as Last Man Standing, Ultimate Warrior Challenge, and Nemesis Fighting.

After suffering one loss in 2009, Dodson returned in 2010 to maintain a five-fight undefeated streak, which came to an end when he fought Demetrious Johnson in the main event at UFC on Fox 6 in 2013.

'The Magician' went on to fight 'Mighty Mouse' once again for the flyweight championship, but failed to take home the gold. His last outing in the UFC was in 2020, where he finished his promotional run with a loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 252. Dodson racked up a total of ten wins in the UFC before his release in 2020.

The 37-year-old American's professional mixed martial arts record currently stands at 22 wins and 13 losses. His last MMA bout was won by a unanimous decision at XMMA 4 when he fought Francisco Rivera.