Jamel Herring edges John Dodson at BKFC 95, David Feldman 'disgusted' by main event

Jamel Herring retained his BKFC bantamweight title with a split decision over John Dodson in the main event of BKFC 95 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday, October 17. Two judges scored the five-round bout for Herring, 48-47 and 49-46, while the third had it 49-46 for Dodson. The result left BKFC president David Feldman openly unhappy with what he had just watched.

It was the first defence of the belt for Herring, the former WBO super featherweight boxing champion, who won the vacant title by unanimous decision against Michael Larrimore at BKFC 89 in May. He is now 3-0 in bare-knuckle competition. Dodson, The Ultimate Fighter 14 winner and former UFC flyweight title challenger, entered as BKFC's flyweight champion and suffered his first loss in the promotion, falling to 4-1-1.

Feldman: 'We are not Bare Knuckle Boxing'

Dodson had promised to rush Herring and throw haymakers, but according to Bloody Elbow, the fight slowed to a near standstill because of constant clinching, with Herring winning behind his jab. Feldman told Bloody Elbow he had been "disgusted" by the main event.

"I get boxing, I get being technical but throwing one shot at a time? Pot shotting? Not really engaging?" Feldman said. "That's not what we're doing, we are Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, not 'Bare Knuckle Boxing'. We're there to see a fight and I don't think that we saw a fight. I do think that John Dodson tried to create a fight."

Feldman added that Herring is "a phenomenal boxer" but "has got to throw more punches and give us a little bit more action in future." MiddleEasy reports that Feldman made similar comments at the post-event press conference, saying: "I was very disgusted by that main event."

Herring responds

According to MiddleEasy, Herring took the criticism as constructive, said Feldman had pushed his corner to raise the pace, and acknowledged his counterpunching habits, while arguing that Dodson's clinching limited his work on the inside. He also disagreed with the scorecards, said he would review the footage and agreed that paying fans deserved more. In a backstage interview, Herring said he believed the right man won, blamed a damaged lip on a headbutt and said: "I had to double my jab at times."

Andrew Strode next

BKFC named interim flyweight champion Andrew Strode as Herring's next challenger, and the two faced off after the bout. Strode is 5-0 in the promotion after stopping Gee Perez with one second left in the third round of their rematch, per MiddleEasy. Herring floated KnuckleMania as a possible stage for the fight, but no date or venue has been announced.

The loss comes as BKFC prepares to retire its men's flyweight division. Before the event, Feldman said the pool of suitable opponents was too shallow, and that Dodson would have been recognised as a two-division champion had he beaten Herring.

BKFC 95 results

The co-main event delivered the kind of finish Feldman wanted, with former UFC and Bellator fighter Jimmie Rivera knocking out Brandon Meyer at 0:46 of round four. BKFC reported attendance of 8,392, according to FightBook MMA, and named Brooke Evans its Performance of the Night, with Knockout of the Night awards for Cole Cameron, Rivera and Tony Soto.

• Jamel Herring def. John Dodson by split decision (48-47, 49-46, 46-49)
• Jimmie Rivera def. Brandon Meyer by KO (R4, 0:46)
• Tony Soto def. Anthony Pike by KO (R2, 0:40)
• Santo Curatolo def. Anthony Yost by KO (R2, 0:37)
• Dalvin Blair def. Paris Boyd by KO (R1, 1:22)
• Noah Getahoun vs. Dustin Bailey ended in a unanimous draw (28-28 x3)
• Cole Cameron def. Phil Caracappa by KO (R1, 1:44)
• Mike Medrano def. Rob Emerson by split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
• Dylan Pitt def. Nicholas Saragosa by TKO (doctor stoppage, R1, 0:52)
• Brooke Evans def. Gabrielle Roman by TKO (R2, 1:59)