John Dodson has not fought on a BKFC card in almost 31 months, and he says Jamel Herring is the one who will pay for it. The BKFC flyweight champion moves up to challenge Herring for the bantamweight title in the BKFC 95 main event Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., with the main card streaming at 9 p.m. ET on the BKFC+ app.
What’s at stake
It’s Herring’s first defense of the belt he won in May, when he swept Michael Larrimore 50-44 on all three cards in Palm Desert, Calif. Dodson is chasing a second title, and BKFC is selling the night as champion against champion.
The flyweight side of that billing is shakier than it looks. Dodson’s agent, Ricky Kottenstette, told the Albuquerque Journal that the future of BKFC’s 125-pound division appears to be in question, even though the promotion still lists Dodson as its champion. BKFC booked an interim flyweight title fight while he sat out, and Andrew Strode has since beaten Gee Perez twice. Dodson said he does not know if he will ever defend the flyweight belt.
There’s money in the backstory, too. Kottenstette said BKFC wanted to renegotiate Dodson’s contract during the layoff. Saturday is the first of three fights under a new deal.
The case for each fighter
Herring brings a world-championship boxing resume into the ring. The Marine veteran and former U.S. Olympian held the WBO junior lightweight title, retired from gloved boxing at 24-5 in 2024 and has won both bare-knuckle fights by lopsided decision, over Matt Guymon and Larrimore. He’s 5-foot-10 to Dodson’s 5-foot-3, according to BKFC’s listings, and BKFC’s event page has him as a -266 favorite.
“They say in boxing, you’re not a real world champion until you defend your title, and right now, I have a real good opponent in front of me and that’s where my focus is at,” Herring told the New York Amsterdam News. He also knows the format punishes a lapse: “You can be up three rounds, and you could get hit by one solid punch, and that can turn the whole fight around.”
Dodson, 42, fought twice for the UFC flyweight title, still backs himself against the UFC’s best at 125 pounds, and is unbeaten at 4-0-1 in bare-knuckle. He won BKFC gold with a first-round TKO of J.R. Ridge in August 2023, kept it with a draw against Dagoberto Aguero in March 2024 and beat Takaki Soya by decision in a bare-knuckle fight in Japan later that year. Both men are southpaws.
He is also furious about the wait. “I’m gonna go out there and take his title, and show everyone I’m one of the most dangerous people that’s ever been pissed off,” Dodson told the Albuquerque Journal. He believes Herring’s background is a weakness, not a strength: “His boxing mentality and, actually, all his boxing habits become a large amount of cues to go in and pick him apart.”
The co-main event has a New Jersey flavor. Jimmie Rivera, a former BKFC title challenger, faces Brandon Meyer at welterweight as a -793 favorite, a year after Frankie Edgar was pulled from their planned fight on BKFC’s last Newark card. That October show, headlined by Mike Perry and Jeremy Stephens, is one founder David Feldman called “one of the most exciting and successful in our company’s history.”
Full fight card
| Bout | Division | Card |
|---|---|---|
| Jamel Herring (c) vs. John Dodson | Bantamweight title | Main card |
| Jimmie Rivera vs. Brandon Meyer | Welterweight | Main card |
| Santo Curatolo vs. Anthony Yost | Flyweight | Main card |
| Tony Soto vs. Anthony Pike | Lightweight | Main card |
| Dalvin Blair vs. Paris Boyd | Lightweight | Main card |
| Noah Getahoun vs. Dustin Bailey | Middleweight | Main card |
| Dylan Pitt vs. Nicholas Saragosa | Lightweight | Main card |
| Mike Medrano vs. Rob Emerson | Welterweight | Prelims |
| Phil Caracappa vs. Cole Cameron | Featherweight | Prelims |
| Gabrielle Roman vs. Brooke Evans | Women’s flyweight | Prelims |
The card reflects BKFC’s event listing as of Oct. 14 and is subject to change.
How to watch
BKFC 95 takes place Saturday, Oct. 17, at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Prelims start at 8 p.m. ET and the main card at 9 p.m. ET. BKFC says the event streams live worldwide on the BKFC+ app, and event listings also carry it on DAZN. There is no pay-per-view. BKFC has not posted a ring-walk time for the main event, but with seven fights on the main card, Herring and Dodson likely won’t walk before 11:30 p.m. ET.
