Former UFC fighter John Dodson signs with Bare Knuckle FC

Welcome to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), John Dodson.

BKFC announced on Friday that the former UFC fighter signed with and joined the roster of the bare-knuckle boxing promotion. Details of his signing were not provided.

Dodson competed as a bantamweight on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller more than a decade ago. The ‘Magician’ fought his way to the finale, where he finished T.J. Dillashaw via first-round knockout to earn a six-figure contract with the UFC. He returned to flyweight for his next appearances, defeating Tim Elliott and Jussier Formiga en route to his first championship opportunity against then-flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC on FOX 6. Johnson vs. Dodson was a ‘Fight of the Night’ awarded outing, but one that the latter fell short in. Dodson lost to Johnson by unanimous decision.

Wins over Darrell Montague, John Moraga and Zach Makovsky led to another opportunity against Johnson, whom Dodson lost to again at UFC 191. He then decided to move up to bantamweight, where he spent the rest of his UFC career alternating between wins and losses. In his final UFC fight, Dodson dropped a unanimous decision to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 252 and was subsequently released, ending a nearly decade-long run with the promotion.

The bantamweight and flyweight staple continued his career under the XMMA banner, going 1-1 so far. The JacksonWink MMA product suffered a unanimous decision loss to Cody Gibson at XMMA 3: Vice City, but rebounded with a decision over Francisco Rivera at XMMA 4: Black Magic this past April.

Dodson is the latest fighter to sign with BKFC, joining the likes of Ben Rothwell, Jimmie Rivera and Chad Mendes as recent signees. A date, weight class and opponent for the 37-year-old are unknown, but BKFC should reveal those details in the coming weeks.