BKFC main event: Who's the Magician and who's the Lion? Come Friday, we'll know
Aug. 10—Perhaps they should trade nicknames.
Friday at Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque's John "The Magician" Dodson and Florida's JR "The Lion" Ridge are scheduled to fight the main event of a Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship card.
The vacant BKFC flyweight (125-pound) title will be up for grabs. Dodson (2-0 BKFC, 24-13 MMA) was approximately a 4-to-1 betting favorite as of Thursday afternoon.
Dodson's nickname stems from his entertaining style and the lightning-fast moves he employed in the cage, twice having fought all-time great Demetrious Johnson for the UFC flyweight title — and believing to this day he should have gotten the decision in their first meeting.
In the BKFC's circular ring, though, Dodson has been less a magician than a lion, or perhaps a tiger — ripping through his first two opponents en route to first-round TKO victories. Combined, his demolitions of Ryan Benoit and Jarod Grant lasted just 2 minutes, 21 seconds.
At Wednesday's BKFC news conference at Dave & Buster's, Dodson said he'd seen nothing from Ridge (3-1, his loss a stoppage due to a cut) that made him think Friday's fight would last appreciably longer.
Should Ridge make it past the first round, Dodson said, so much the worse for him.
"I'm not too impressed," Dodson said. "He always gasses out. He has nothing in his gas tank ... and since he has to come into (Albuquerque's mile-high) elevation, I feel bad for the man."
Yet, it's Ridge, "The Lion," who plans to work a little magic — hoping to disappear from the wildly aggressive Dodson's tunnel vision with angles and lateral movement.
"We know how John is," Ridge said during an interview on 101.7 FM radio. "We've seen his career (in MMA) for the longest time.
"So with John .... with my style of boxing we use a lot of angles and ... pay a lot of attention to our entrances and exits, working the angles. With a guy like John, who comes straight forward, we've come up with a pretty solid game plan and we're gonna stick to it."
Ridge also said that, in preparation for his fight with the ultra-aggressive Dodson at high elevation, he has done extra conditioning work.
Back atcha
Unlike in Friday's much-ballyhooed semi-main event between Florida's Gee Perez (3-0) and TikTok influencer Bryce Hall (bare-knuckle debut), no real bad blood exists between Dodson and Ridge.
The two smiled and shook hands after their traditional "pose-down" at Wednesday's news conference, and Ridge called it an honor to be facing "a legend" like Dodson.
Still, as is almost obligatory, the two got their digs in.
Dodson labeled Ridge "a replacement fighter," noting he originally was to face Reggie Barnett Jr. (9-2) on Friday's card.
"I'll show you a replacement fighter, John," Ridge replied, then noted that, though Dodson twice fought Johnson for a UFC title, he never won one.
Read the fine print, Dodson said.
"If he actually looked at my career, I won the Ultimate Fighter Season 14, and that was a championship in itself."
Dodson's knockout on TUF 14 of TJ Dillashaw, who later would twice win the UFC bantamweight title, is perhaps the Albuquerque fighter's signature victory.
Win, no slap
Raton's Roberto Trujillo won his fight Wednesday on the UFC's Power Slap competition in Las Vegas, Nevada, without even having to slap anyone.
Trujillo's opponent, Paul Teague, won the coin toss and went first. But Teague's blow only hurt himself. An injury to Teague's hand or wrist gave Trujillo a victory by TKO.
Teague's blow had little effect on Trujillo, who took it with a smile.
Trujillo is 3-1 as a slap fighter, his only loss coming via disqualification. An MMA fighter with a 5-0 record, he's hoping his success in Power Slap will lead to a UFC contract.
