Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship make their highly anticipated return to the legendary fight town of Albuquerque, New Mexico with BKFC 48 on Friday, August 11 at Tingley Coliseum with a sensational main event, as local all-action attraction, No. 2-ranked John “The Magician” Dodson (2-0) battles No. 1-ranked J.R. “The Lion” Ridge (3-1) of Tampa, Florida for the first ever BKFC flyweight world championship.
Tickets starting at $45 are now on-sale at BKFC.com. BKFC 48 will also be broadcast internationally as part of the BKFC+ subscription for $7.99 per month on the new BKFC app – “The Best Value in Combat Sports” – and is sponsored by Bucked Up, Only Fans, Crescent Tools, LIONS NOT SHEEP and Knockout Gummies.
“This is our third event in the famed fight town of Albuquerque, and we could not be more excited to return,” said David Feldman, president and founder of BKFC. “Our first two events in Albuquerque have drawn huge, record setting, sold-out crowds and we promised the fans after KnuckleMania 3 in February we would be back this summer with another world-class event.”
“Our headliner on August 11 features the two most exciting and most skilled flyweights in the world, John Dodson and J.R. Ridge, and we could not be prouder to crown our first BKFC flyweight world championship belt to the victor,” said David Feldman. “We’re also going to be announcing a tremendous undercard featuring some of the best local and national bare-knuckle fighters. Friday, August 11 will be a very special night.”
On February 17, 2023 in front of a sold-out crowd of over 8,000 fans, BKFC presented KnuckleMania 3 headlined by a sensational BKFC light heavyweight championship between arch-rivals Lorenzo Hunt and Mike Richman. Dropped hard midway through the first round by Richman, Hunt would regain his footing and immediately drill Richman to the canvas with a huge right hand ending the fight. The knockdown of Hunt and subsequent knockout of Richman was an international viral sensation.
Also at KnuckleMania 3, Dodson scored an electrifying first-round knockout of Jarod Grant cementing his status as one of the top fighters in the division and a must-see attraction. A two-time world title challenger in the UFC, Dodson burst onto the BKFC landscape with a first-round knockout of Ryan Benoit on August 27, 2022 at the promotion’s first event in Albuquerque.
Ridge, a native of the Philippines, is challenging for the BKFC flyweight world championship following a dominant decision victory over Chance Wilson at BKFC 32 on November 5, 2022. He also holds show-stopping knockouts over Justyn Martinez and Jerald Gregori.
