Bad news for all the aspiring flyweight fighters looking to try their hands at Conor McGregor-co-owned Bare Knuckle Championship (BKFC). The promotion is all set to scrap its 125 lbs division permanently.

In a recent interview with Home of Fight, BKFC president David Feldman disclosed that flyweight champion John Dodson moving up a weight-class to fight against Jamel Herring at 135 lbs at BKFC 95 on October 17th would mark the end of the division. The reason Feldman cited was the lack of competition at 125 lbs.

“No… I’ll probably breaking with you right now,” Feldman said. “We are actually going to do away with the 125 lbs division. We just don’t have enough competition to have a full division and be able to keep the guys busy as we want. So John elected to move up to 135.

“He doesn’t know that yet, but he will be the double champ, and then we will take it from him. But we have to give him that honor to be the double champ. But then, we’re gonna retire that.”

Soon after, David Feldman again reiterated that finding quality competition in flyweight became an incredibly tough task for the promotion that ultimately led them to discontinue it.

“It’s just hard to find real quality fighters—a lot of quality fighters at 125 in any sport, but especially in bare-knuckle fighting because it’s a little different. To get a good selection, you need to compete for a championship, and it’s not really there.”

Feldman’s decision to close the flyweight division definitely comes from a practical place. At present, BKFC has listed only 37 fighters on its flyweight roster, which is relatively shallow. The division’s numbers pale in comparison to the bantamweight division, which has a total of 117 fighters listed on the promotion’s website.

Plus, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s struggle to put on exciting fights at 125 lbs looked evident in champion John Dodson’s inactivity. 

The former UFC fighter, John Dodson, won the inaugural flyweight belt in August 2023 by beating JR Ridge via first-round knockout at BKFC 48. Dodson’s next title defense came almost a year after he won the belt, with the champion earning a unanimous draw against Dagoberto Aguero at BKFC 59 in March 2024.

Following those fights, Dodson has now moved up to challenge the bantamweight champion for double-champ status. In fact, the sorry state of BKFC’s flyweight division is reflected in the fact that interim champion Andrew Strode’s last fight was against Gee Perez at 135 lbs and not in his division.

With such a decline in the flyweight division, BKFC felt it could no longer revive the weight class and would instead invest in the bantamweight division, which is already a much deeper weight class.

Feldman had previously hinted at the fate of the flyweight division in July during an interview with The Fight with the Freak, when he clearly stated that the division would be “winded down.”

This is the first time the promotion has scrapped an entire weight division. But, BKFC isn’t the only promotion to make such a difficult decision this year.

In March 2026, ONE Championship also had to discontinue its women’s strawweight MMA division, with roster contractions playing a significant role alongside other issues.

Even so, BKFC is set to host a unique event in January 2027. Sadly, flyweights won’t be part of it. 

Flyweight fighters will miss out on the BKFC Bruise Cruise event   

Next year, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is all set to host one of the most unique events the combat sports world has ever seen. From January 22–25, BKFC will host an event aboard a cruise ship that will sail from Miami, Florida, to Nassau, Bahamas, aboard the Norwegian Jewel.

The cruise will feature live concerts, pool deck parties, special interactions with the fighters, and much more. Of course, the fights will take center stage.

During the Home of Fight interview, Feldman shared his excitement about the event and revealed that he would announce its main event next week.

“I mean, we have the cruise we are doing at the right in January of 2027,” Feldman said. “That’s going to be an amazing event. A three-night cruise with the fight on Saturday. We’re going to drop the main event next week.”

“It’s going to be an exciting main event. A lot of people are looking forward to the fight. Got a great undercard with so many different activations with the fighters, the ring card girls, and myself.”  

At present, BKFC has listed bouts across most of its weight classes for the cruise event. Interestingly, Gustavo Balart from the men’s flyweight division is also scheduled to compete at the spectacle, although his opponent remains unannounced.

However, with the promotion set to scrap the flyweight division soon, Balart’s fight could take place at 135 lbs.

That said, given the significance of this decision, it will be interesting to see how BKFC operates following the scrapping of one of its divisions.