BKFC retires flyweight division, John Dodson’s title to be retired after next fight
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 17, 2026
BKFC flyweight division ends
BKFC has ended its 125-pound flyweight division after deciding the promotion did not have enough competition in the weight class. The move closes the book on a division that had already been built around John Dodson, and it sets up the retirement of his flyweight title after his next fight. BKFC president David Feldman said Dodson will be recognized as a two-division champion before the belt is taken away, a designation that keeps the focus on what he accomplished in the division even as the promotion moves away from it. The decision does more than clear a title off the board. It removes an entire weight class from BKFC’s lineup and shifts Dodson’s place in the promotion from active flyweight champion to a fighter whose championship run will end with his upcoming appearance at a higher weight. For Dodson, the change means the title he helped define will no longer be defended after his next bout, even though he remains part of the promotion’s championship picture. The flyweight division existed with Dodson at the center of it, and BKFC’s decision leaves his title reign as the final chapter in that class.
Dodson’s championship run
Dodson was the inaugural BKFC flyweight champion, which gave him a central role in the division from the start. He later defended the belt once, and that defense ended in a draw against Dagoberto Aguero. That result is part of the title’s brief history and also part of why Dodson’s run carried added weight for BKFC. He did not just win the belt and move on. He helped establish the division by holding the first flyweight title and then taking it into a defense that left the championship picture intact. Dodson also entered BKFC with a broader combat sports background as a former UFC title challenger, giving his flyweight reign another layer of experience and name value. The promotion’s decision to eliminate the division does not erase that background or the path he took to the belt. It does, though, frame his flyweight run as a completed chapter. With the class gone, Dodson’s place in BKFC history stays tied to the belt he won and the only defense he made, a stretch that now stands as the full record of the promotion’s flyweight title.
Dodson’s bantamweight title shot
Dodson’s next assignment keeps him in a title fight, only at a different weight. He is scheduled to challenge Jamel Herring for the BKFC bantamweight title at BKFC 95 in Newark. That bout gives Dodson a chance to move directly from the end of one title era into another championship opportunity. The flyweight belt will be retired after that fight, but Feldman said Dodson will first be acknowledged as a two-division champion, which adds to the significance of the matchup. The fight also places Dodson in the position of trying to win a belt in a second BKFC division after leading the first flyweight class from its inception. Herring stands as the opponent in that title fight, and the bantamweight championship is now the focus of Dodson’s immediate future. The shift is straightforward. BKFC is ending the flyweight division because the weight class lacked enough competition, and Dodson is moving on to a bigger title fight before the belt he carried is retired. That sequence leaves his upcoming bout as the final link between BKFC’s flyweight past and its bantamweight present.
