By all accounts, ‘The Action Man’ was on his way to a victory over ‘All In’ in the UFC Vegas 90 headliner. Then suddenly, disaster struck with only seconds on the clock as Curtis suffered an injury to his leg. That allowed Allen to unleash a last-second flurry that likely swayed the decision in his favor.
“Optically, I thought there were a lot of exchanges that I was winning,” Curtis said in a LowKick MMA exclusive interview with Mike Owens. “I feel I’m doing more damage. Responding less. I was pushing the fight more. I felt like I was being the aggressor.
“From what I’ve heard from a lot of people is that in the fifth round, I was up. I was winning and when my hamstring went out, it presented a really bad picture. He threw a flurry at the end, but nothing landed. I got hit in the shoulder with a knee. I didn’t get hurt or anything, but from an optics perspective, I’m the guy on the fence surviving now.
“I think the optics of 15 seconds outdid the 4:45 which kinda sucks,” Curtis added. “It’s not how you want it to go, but you don’t control the judges and the judges are going to default to what they see most of the time. These guys are making what, $300 a f*cking [show]. They’re not experts in this usually. It just sucks, but optics play a huge part and it sucks to lose on 15 seconds of bad optics.”
Chris Curtis maintains his top 15 ranking following questionable loss
Instead of moving into the middleweight top ten with a win, Curtis continues to cling to his spot as the No. 14 ranked contender in the division.
‘The Action Man’ also revealed the gruesome details regarding his hamstring injury, including a potential timeline for return, which you can read all about right here.
Watch the full exclusive interview with Chris Curtis below:
John Dodson didn’t always love the idea of bare-knuckle boxing. Now, he’s the BKFC champ. How did that happen?
It might be hard to believe now, but John Dodson’s current bare-knuckle boxing run almost didn’t even come to fruition. What started as a deed for a family member has evolved over the years, and now sees him headlining a card this weekend with a title in the mix.
The 39-year-old UFC vet currently holds the BKFC Flyweight Championship, which he earned with a first-round stoppage of JR Ridge last year. He has previously stopped two other fighters under bare-knuckle boxing rules and is scheduled to put his belt on the line against standout Dominican Republic pro boxer Dagoberto Aguero this Friday.
John Dodson talks BKFC journey
Knowing all of that, you might be shocked about what happened when he was first asked about competing in fighting sans the gloves.
“To be honest with you? I said no,” Dodson said in a recent interview. “I told them absolutely not.”
The visuals of bare-knuckle boxing were off-putting for Dodson. While he has seen the studies that suggest bare-knuckle boxing, albeit still a dangerous sport, could have a lower rate of concussions than other forms of combat, nasty “skin on skin, bone to face” contact in matches gives him pause to this day.
“I still have that sense that ‘I don’t want to do this,’” Dodson joked. “Every time I’m at a BKFC event, I’m hearing people get hit in the back and it sounds so painful, man!”
Brotherly Love
Mandatory Credit: BKFC
So what brought Dodson into BKFC? Stepping up for a family member and showing brotherly love, believe it or not.
It was John’s brother, Eric who first expressed interest in competing for BKFC. John said his brother, known as the “Thuggy Bear,” went to a tryout hosted by the promotion and earned an opportunity to compete. However, fights kept falling through. John wanted to give his brother a shot at competing in BKFC, so he accepted a fight when they came to his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and made sure his Eric would get on the undercard.
“Ultimately I had to do my brother a solid,” Dodson said. “Be a good big brother and put on a hell of a show.”
Both of the Dodson brothers have found success since then. Dodson won his BKFC debut in just 40 seconds, putting away fellow UFC alum Ryan Benoit. “Thuggy Bear” picked up his last victory just a couple of months back. While he may have hesitancy about bare-knuckle fights, Dodson believes he’s in a period of his career that he is truly loving.
A Post-UFC Dodson
Four years removed from the end of his UFC run, a time in the promotion that lasted nearly a decade and included two different title fights against Demetrious Johnson, Dodson says he’s simply having fun. The pressure of being in the top MMA promotion is gone, allowing him to do so much more.
“When I was in UFC at 135 [pounds], I was still trying to secure a job and I wasn’t having fun anymore … I was playing the safe game, I wanted to ensure I had a next fight scheduled. Once those next fights stopped coming through, I had to change up my mentality. Back into having fun, making sure I can go and do what I always love.”
When his UFC career initially came to an end, Dodson remembers feeling lost. “Oh s***, I need to get a real job,” he remembers thinking. But it wouldn’t end up being the end of the road for him. What helped him regain focus was coaching at United Fit, where the Nobody’s Villains MMA team trains. Coaching is something that he wants to do even after his time as a fighter has come to an end.
“I always love coaching my team. Those guys keep me motivated … They push me to a new limit. When I was let go from the UFC, I needed something else to motivate me. I keep on training their guys, making sure that they can get better. And not only that, it helps me put the best foot forward.”
Dodson says he wants to keep competing to set an example for his students: “I don’t want to sit there and be telling them, ‘Hey you guys should do this, this is how you really become a champion’ without ever being one at all.”
While competing in bare-knuckle boxing, Dodson is no doubt still fully in the MMA world. He has been balancing his time as of late in between BKFC and Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN. He won his RIZIN debut in late 2022, stopping veteran talent Hideo Tokoro. He had a three-fight winning streak in MMA snapped late last year when 2021 RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix winner Hiromasa Ougikubo beat him on scorecards. While nothing has been announced, he hopes to return to Japan sometime soon.
Not Afraid of Aguero
Mandatory Credit: Mike Roach – Zuffa LLC
Friday will be a different challenge compared to previous BKFC fights that Dodson has been in. He has previously faced MMA fighters under bare-knuckle rules or fighters like former champ Ridge, who have experience strictly in BKFC. But this weekend he’ll be facing a talent who comes from a more traditional boxing background.
Aguero made his BKFC debut last year with a third-round win over Chance Wilson. He had a 17-fight pro boxing record before then, mainly building up wins in the Dominican Republic. He switched over to bare-knuckle competition after suffering a pair of losses, dropping a decision to Aram Avagyan and getting stopped by former Rey Vargas opponent Azat Hovhannisyan.
The different matchup doesn’t bother Dodson, as he seems to have the same confident mindset no matter who is across from him.
“I mean, he can have as many experiences all he wants,” he said. “15-2 doesn’t mean anything to me when it comes to being the more dynamic striker. I’ve solidified myself being one of the most dangerous strikers and one of the most decorated ones out of all of them.”
If the story about Dodson coming around on competing for BKFC didn’t prove that he’s still a changing and transforming fighter, a glance at his career makes a solid case as well. When looking at his success recently, it’s clear that he is having one of the strongest runs of his entire career. Before his close loss in RIZIN just a few months ago, he had a six-fight stretch of victories between MMA and bare-knuckle boxing, a run that hasn’t been seen since the start of his UFC campaign. Dodson competed a total of four times last year, a level of activity that was last seen more than a decade ago in his career.
A win this weekend would continue Dodson’s recent career resurgence and keep his champion status. And who knows, maybe it will keep him in the bare-knuckle sport that he still has second thoughts about for one more fight.
Raquel Pennington was not a fan of Sean Strickland’s antics ahead of UFC 297 and took the time to…
Raquel Pennington was not a fan of Sean Strickland’s antics ahead of UFC 297 and took the time to discuss how his ridicule could be construed as hate speech.
Entering UFC 297 as the undisputed middleweight champion, Sean Strickland was on top of the world. As boisterous as ever, he showed up to media day wearing a shirt that proclaimed: “A woman in every kitchen, a gun in every hand.” That was just the beginning though, as he’d later go on and spout a number of comments that some could perceive as homophobic.
A video featuring a breakdown of the comments by Sean Strickland during UFC 297 fight week that were perceived to be “hate speech”
Speaking to Lowkick MMA reporter Mike Owens, Raquel Pennington would touch upon the experience of UFC 297 fight week, and address the comments that were made.
Raquel Pennington draws the line between freedom of speech and hate speech
“Everybody has their opinions, and they’re warranted to how they feel and stuff,” Pennington began, speaking as an openly gay woman. “But you’re not going to tell me how to live my life, and I’m not going to tell you how to live your life. I don’t find the need to judge other people’s lifestyles… He wants to talk about female fighters, but we’re here to stay.”
“I can respect the UFC for giving a platform to where we have freedom of speech, and they allow us athletes to be ourselves and whatnot, but I do feel a significant difference in freedom of speech and hate speech. And there were a lot of interesting things coming on that end (hate speech)… He talks all big and bad all the time on the camera, and he’s constantly running his mouth, but then you see him in person, and he’s looking the other direction.”
Mandatory Credit: Zuffa LLC
Raquel Pennington went on to say that things said on such a big platform can negatively affect the way some people feel. Saying that Strickland voicing such things on a platform like the UFC “breaks her heart”. But, ‘Rocky’ did hold firm in claiming that the ‘hate speech’ would never hold her back from doing her job in the cage.
What’s your opinion on Sean Strickland saying things that borderline on hate speech?
Newly-minted undisputed bantamweight champion, Raquel Pennington claims if soon-to-be common-foe, Holly Holm turns it on against incoming debutante, Kayla…
Newly-minted undisputed bantamweight champion, Raquel Pennington claims if soon-to-be common-foe, Holly Holm turns it on against incoming debutante, Kayla Harrison in their massive UFC 300 fight next month – the Albuquerque striker could upset the apple cart and hand the former an Octagon debut loss.
Pennington, an alum of The Ultimate Fighter, finally struck Octagon gold at the second time of trying earlier this year in the co-main event of UFC 297 – landing a one-sided unanimous decision win over surging Brazilian phenom, Mayra Bueno Silva in the pair’s vacant title affair.
Making her long-anticipated first outing under the Dana White-led banner next month on a monumental UFC 300 card, Harrison’s ability to make bantamweight numbers for the first time in her career have been called into serious question.
Raquel Pennington previews Kayla Harrison clash in the future
“I think she (Kayla Harrison) could definitely make the weight,” Raquel Pennington told LowKick MMA in an exclusive interview. “It’s [bantamweight] obviously going to be a new place for her. I think my biggest question is, ‘Okay, you’ve made the weight, but how are you going to perform at that weight?’”
“And then, just that fight [with Holly Holm], in general,” Raquel Pennington explained. “I feel like if Holly brings the fighter out that came into the UFC, she’ll definitely expose Kayla again. Kayla fought Larissa Pacheco, and Larissa threw her hands, and during that fight, Kayla had a really hard time, she couldn’t get off with her gameplan like she’s used to.”
Entering the Octagon off the back of a victory, Harrison, a career lightweight who twice landed tournament gold success under the PFL banner, most recently handed UFC alum, Aspen Ladd a decision loss in their clash toward the end of last year.
Who wins in a future title meeting: Raquel Pennington or Kayla Harrison?
As we approach one of the biggest UFC pay-per-view cards of the year, fight fans are flooding social media…
As we approach one of the biggest UFC pay-per-view cards of the year, fight fans are flooding social media with thoughts over the recent buyout of Bloody Elbow, an MMA media website that for more than a decade, delivered combat sports news and analysis with a unique voice unlike any other in the industry.
On Tuesday, March 5, it was announced that Bloody Elbow had been purchased by GRV Media, a UK-based company that touts itself as “one of the world’s largest independent networks with a portfolio of over 50 sites focused mainly on sport, gaming, and entertainment.”
Over the years, Bloody Elbow and its tribe of writers have sought to hold the MMA industry accountable for its actions. They tackled issues of fighter pay head-on and since August, have provided by far the most comprehensive coverage of the ongoing antitrust lawsuit against the UFC. Unfortunately, if you want to go back and read any of those stories, you’re out of luck as Bloody Elbow’s new business daddy has seemingly erased every report associated with the suit.
Right now it looks as if the folks that are in charge of Bloody Elbow, GRV media, have deleted the sites stories on the info gathered from the anti-trust lawsuit.
The below link is dead and search comes up empty on the site.
Speaking on the demise of Bloody Elbow, Luke Thomas of Morning Kombat shared his thoughts with Mike Owens in a LowKick MMA exclusive interview.
“This is a real bad day for MMA,” Thomas said. “I know that there are folks who don’t see it that way. I would submit that they don’t understand what is happening around them. The biggest complaint that I typically see about Bloody Elbow comes from people who didn’t like their political sort of editorial slant, which is fine. You don’t have to like that, but show me the site or the media outlet that does what they do in the sense of trying to police the industry. Trying to hold commissions [accountable]. Trying to bring fighter pay to public scrutiny. What other media outlet does that? There isn’t one.”
Thomas Warns that MMA media will become ‘more unreliable’ following bloody elbow buyout
If you’ve read a story about fighter pay or the ongoing antitrust lawsuit, chances are some of the information included was sourced from Bloody Elbow. They were the only site actively working to hold Dana White and Co. accountable for its highly questionable business practices that kept the executive pockets lined in cash while fighters threw hands for their share of a meager 15% of the revenue.
“This is categorically a disaster for the industry,” Thomas continued. “There are going to be people in the industry happy about this because they’re going to benefit from the situation and they didn’t like that Bloody Elbow had political coverage, but it just goes to show you that the amount of bad faith actors in the industry is so endemic in management, in how fighters get paid, in commission structures…
“These things are so endemic that it’s basically how the sport works and that’s why you see sometimes these really angry reactions to what [Bloody Elbow] did because they were the only ones who had the courage to hold a mirror up and let everyone see what was going on. This is a very bad thing for the industry unless you’re a dirtbag, in which case congratulations. Things just got a lot easier for you.”
Bloody Elbow is still running and producing content daily under the GRV Media banner, but the unique voice that the site once held has been silenced in favor of your run-of-the-mill AI-generated news site.
One of the new regime’s featured writers, Tom Llewellyn, is said to have had “over 48 million views while working on other projects at GRV Media before joining Bloody Elbow full-time.” Interestingly, Llewellyn has no online presence aside from an account on X that was opened in January 2023 with only seven followers and zero posts.
“I know what everyone says,” Thomas added. “They’re gonna say, ‘A certain writer I didn’t like is losing their job and I’m not going to miss their coverage.’ Let me give you as clear as f*ck warning as I possibly can. However little you like the current system, trust me when I tell you that you’re going to hate the next one a lot more because it’s going to be significantly more unreliable.”
Inaugural BMF titleholder, Jorge Masvidal has vowed to break the orbital of former interim lightweight gold holder and current…
Inaugural BMF titleholder, Jorge Masvidal has vowed to break the orbital of former interim lightweight gold holder and current symbolic champion, Justin Gaethje if they ever share the Octagon in the future – vowing to “chop up” the Arizonian.
Masvidal, a former two-time undisputed welterweight title chaser and the promotion’s first-ever symbolic BMF gold holder, called time on his storied career back in April of last year, suffering his fourth consecutive defeat.
“Justin’s (Gaethje) very good,” Jorge Masvidal said. “The guy that he beat to get that belt is a f*cking stud, a killer in Dustin Poirier. But I just feel like, man – if you put BMF against BMF, you put me against Gaethje in there, I will break his f*cking eye orbital. And I will f*cking chop him up. So, hopefully that can happen at some point.”
Himself winning symbolic BMF spoils back in 2019, Masvidal turned in a dominant third round doctor’s stoppage TKO win over the above-mentioned, Diaz at Madison Square Garden – in the pair’s first pairing atop a UFC 244 pay-per-view card in New York City.
Would you like to see Jorge Masvidal fight Justin Gaethje in the future?
John Dodson didn’t always love the idea of bare-knuckle boxing. Now, he’s the BKFC champ. How did that happen?
Raquel Pennington was not a fan of Sean Strickland’s antics ahead of UFC 297 and took the time to…
Newly-minted undisputed bantamweight champion, Raquel Pennington claims if soon-to-be common-foe, Holly Holm turns it on against incoming debutante, Kayla…
As we approach one of the biggest UFC pay-per-view cards of the year, fight fans are flooding social media…
Inaugural BMF titleholder, Jorge Masvidal has vowed to break the orbital of former interim lightweight gold holder and current…