Widely considered one of the world’s top bantamweight fighters, John ‘The Magician’ Dodson is an American mixed martial artist. A fan favourite in the UFC for nearly a decade, Dodson made a name for himself fighting mostly in the Southwest region. He was a two-time title challenger in the UFC and also won Spike TV competition The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller.

Hailing from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dodson competed in football, track and wrestling whilst attending high scho0ol in Moriarty, New Mexico. A talented wrestler, Dodson was four time district champion, one time state runner-up and two-time state champion. He began training MMA in 2002 after he was recruited by Greg Jackson and Christ Luttrell thanks to his extensive background in wrestling, and instantly fell in love with the sport. Dodson began to compete at amateur level and quickly rose through the ranks before turning professional.

After signing with the The Ultimate Fighter in 2011 to compete on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller, Dodson was selected as a member of Team Mayhem. After defeating John Albert he moved into the semi-finals where he won a fight against Johnny Bedford via KO – an impressive finish which fans voted “Knockout of the Season.” He made his UFC debut in December 2011 against T.J. Dillashaw and made history when he became the first Bantamweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter competition.

In 2020 Dodson parted ways with the UFC, but with nearly 20 years of competing already behind him he remains more than ready to face elite competition.