John Dodson wins BKFC flyweight title

 In front of another sold-out crowd of 7,483 on Friday night at the famed Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, (BKFC) presented a sensational evening of world class bare-knuckle fighting.

Said David Feldman, President and Founder of BKFC, “Another fantastic event here in Albuquerque, New Mexico crowning a new BKFC Flyweight World Champion and Bryce Hall won his first bare-knuckle fight.”

“The Knockout of the Night went to Keith Richardson and the Fight of the Night went to Anthony Sanchez and Gene Perez in our prelims. We’re looking forward to bigger and better things in Albuquerque.” The event was broadcast FREE of charge on the BKFC App and Fubo Sports.

In the main event of the evening, local fan favorite John ‘The Magician’ Dodson, 3-0, of Albuquerque, NM stopped JR ‘The Lion’ Ridge, (3-2), in the first round, earning the first BKFC Flyweight World Title. Using excellent accuracy and landing numerous power shots, Dodson scored the second knockout of the opening stanza leading to the stoppage at the 1:49 mark.

Actor and Social Media Influencer, Bryce Hall, (1-0), made his triumphant debut in BKFC with a victory over Gee ‘The Cutman’ Perez, (3-1). Seeing an early opening, Hall dropped Perez with a big right hand shortly after the opening bell. Suffering a left arm injury, Perez’s corner called a halt to the action with Hall being declared the victor after two rounds.

Said the celebrating Hall after the fight, “I’m a fighter and I’ve always been a fighter. Gee hits hard but I saw an opening early on and I took it. Having Lorenzo Hunt in camp with me was a huge help.”

Fighting in the bantamweight division, Keith ‘The Rockstar’ Richardson, (3-0), dropped Derek Perez, (1-1), hard in the first round. With Perez unable to continue, the fight was stopped at the :37 mark.

Hometown favorite Joshua Moreno, (3-0), kept his undefeated streak alive with a first-round knockout of Jeremy Sauceda, (1-2). Sauceda’s corner stopped the fight at the end of the opening stanza from the volume of punishment he had taken.

Fighting in the middleweight division, Jeremiah Holloway, (0-0-1) and Will Santiago, (2-0-1) battled to a majority draw. The fight set a torrid pace throughout with Santiago overcoming a knockdown in the third round. Scores at the end of the five rounds were 48-46 for Holloway and 47-47 on the other two judge’s scorecards.

In the flyweight division, Roberto Armas, (2-2), upset previously unbeaten Eric Dodson, (2-1), over five rounds. Dropping Dodson in the first round, Armas would dominate towards a unanimous decision by scores of 50-45, 49-44 and 47-46

Middleweights saw action with Donald Sanchez, (1-1), earning his first BKFC victory with a unanimous decision over veteran Blake LaCaze, (1-3). Dropping LaCaze with a clean left hand in the first round, Sanchez would go on to victory by scores of 50-44 twice and 48-46.

In the women’s strawweight division, Melanie Shah, (2-0), mounted a huge comeback after a first-round knockout by Sydney Smith, (1-1) to win a unanimous decision by scores of 47-46 on all three judge’s scorecards. Shah would sweep rounds two through five to earn the victory.

Opening up the main card, featherweight Mark Entenberg, (2-0), defeated Darrick Gates, (1-4) by way of technical knockout as the fight was stopped by the ringside physician in round two (:14).

Fighting in the cruiserweight division, Kyle McElroy, (1-3), stopped Richard Montano, (0-1) in the second round from a barrage of punches (:55). Montana dropped McElroy in the action packed second round before being stopped.

Competing in the bantamweight division, Anthony Sanchez, (1-1), defeated Gene Perez, (0-2), by split decision with judge’s scores of 49-46 and 48-47 for Sanchez and 48-47 for Perez. The all-action contest earned the ‘Fight of the Night.”

Opening the prelims, the flyweight bout between Justin Martinez, (0-2) and Austin Lewis, (debut), was ruled a no contest at the end of round due to an unintentional strike by Martinez at the end of round one.