Eric Dodson collides with Robert Armas at BKFC 48 on August 11th.
The fistic fireworks take place at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The broadcast transpires on Fite TV as well as the Bare Knuckle TV app.
Dodson spoke to Dylan Bowker of Bare Knuckle News before the bout. Excerpts from the chat are below.
Eric Dodson
Robert Armas is entering the ring for his fourth BKFC fight and every fight has gone the distance. What are your thoughts on your opponent’s stylistic attributes and accomplishments in bare-knuckle boxing?
“He’s a replacement opponent. The original opponent had gotten injured so we had to find somebody else. It’s a decent enough time frame and coming off a recent fight. At least it hasn’t been that long since he’s fought last. So just watching his previous fights and just kind of the little bit of things I could find on him, he’s definitely going to push the pace. I think his first fight didn’t go his way but it’s a learning experience, so. I think he’s learned.”
“He’s absorbed punches so he’s a little bit more familiar with the rules of the squared circle. But he’s also a little bit more adapted at dealing with the kind of adversity that comes alongside with it. Like you said, he doesn’t go the distance very often (laughs). So he’s looking to bring it. So I’m looking to return fire as soon as I get hit. I’m looking to get into a real big exchange with him and we’ll just kind of see where that goes.”
“For the most part, it looks like he’s coming in hot and heavy. It looks like he’s definitely wiling to get it done early. Put a lot of commitment toward that but we’ll have an answer for it once the time comes for it.”
BKFC
You talk about your opponent’s constant forward pressure but you yourself have a 2-0 BKFC record with consecutive first-round finishes. Does that sound like his approach could almost play into you getting the trifecta of opening-round knockouts?
“Yeah, definitely. For the most part to be honest, the first-round finishes – don’t get me wrong, me and my brother had like a small bet going with it. But in terms of the first-round finishes, both on my side and my brother’s side, the bigger aspect of the game honestly should be and it is for us, is to land our punches. I know for sure if I land enough punches, my opponent is going to go down.”
“Same with my brother. He knows that if he lands enough punches, the opponent is going to go down. If the opponent is looking to push the pace or bring it toward us and they run into a handful of punches and they’re not smart about it, they’re definitely gonna run into some stuff that’s gonna put them into some trouble.”
BKFC 48
There’s a certain synchronicity to the individual journeys in BKFC with yourself and brother John Dodson. You both collected emphatic stoppages as you each debuted on BKFC 28 and now have meaningful fights at BKFC 48 as John readies to attempt to become BKFC’s inaugural flyweight champion. Can you speak to the respective journeys in bare-knuckle boxing and how interlocked they are?
“Yeah, individually it’s going good. I’m glad I was able to get back into the ring and kind of do something different. I did MMA for a little bit and just kind of fell out of it for a while. But whenever BKFC kind of got started, I followed it since the beginning. Once we had the opportunity to go to one of the tryouts, we went out there and did that. But the journey itself for this fight camp itself has been pretty good. It’s different.”
Eric Dodson continued, “Albuquerque is a fight town itself and I know a lot of fighters are here but I’m not used to getting recognized on my own. I’m pretty much John Dodson’s younger brother for the most part. So it’s different, it’s cool. I’ll be at the stores or something and then people recognize me. So I’m growing in that regard but it’s a little bit different for me. I hadn’t expected that.”
Eric Dodson vs Robert Armas
Do you have any final, parting thoughts as we’re wrapping up here, Eric?
“Not really. I’m just really excited to come back to Albuquerque. Just the BKFC in general to keep putting on shows. It gives Albuquerque something to do. We don’t have like a big sports team here. Don’t get me wrong, we have United. So we have soccer. But in terms of like NFL teams or NBA teams or anything like that; we don’t have really major league baseball. So it’s awesome that we’re a fight town, we’re known for fighting. We’ll have the first (BKFC) flyweight champion, we had the first Ultimate Fighter.”
“So we’ve got some good names out of here. So it’s really cool that the BKFC is helping us develop our fight name in the city itself. But I’m super appreciative about it. Plus everybody in Albuquerque that comes out to watch. The only reason we’re able to do this is because people come and watch and because people like to see it. So as long as people love it, I’m gonna give it my all. It’s not something you get to do every day. So I hope they’re enjoying it as much as I am.”
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship
“I know I love this sport. I hope they like watching it. So I can’t wait to see my brother win a title. That’ll be fantastic. It’ll be cool to see in real life on the same card. So I’m really, really, really appreciative of my opponent stepping in at a shorter of a notice fight. Just to kind of help me along because I’ll still be able to get to fight on that same card with John. So I do appreciate him for that. Don’t get me wrong, he’s probably looking to take my head off and so I’ll be there to return the favor.”
Eric Dodson continued, “But man, if it wasn’t for the opponents, I wouldn’t be able to fight. So I appreciate the opponents, the fans, the training partners. People like you, definitely. Giving us interviews, giving us spotlight. But also helping us encourage younger kids to kind of do the same thing and keep the sport itself growing but also alive.”
