Rolando “Dy Unbelievable” Dy is the Filipino BKB Tremendous Welterweight World Champion and a former UFC fighter who will headline BKB 60 in Newcastle on October 10. He defends his title towards five-time BKB champion Scott “The Mute” McHugh at Utilita Area Newcastle, marking BKB’s first occasion within the metropolis.
Dy arrives as one in every of bare-knuckle boxing’s most notable current titleholders. The 35-year-old has constructed a 6-1 bare-knuckle report with 5 stoppage wins, turning a protracted MMA profession right into a title run that has taken him from Thailand to the UK and United States. He’s the primary Filipino fighter to win a BKB world championship.
Who Is Rolando Dy?
Born Rolando Gabriel Dy Jr. in Parañaque, Philippines, Dy competed in combined martial arts for greater than a decade earlier than turning into a bare-knuckle champion. His MMA report stands at 15-13 with one no contest, and his expertise consists of stints within the UFC, BRAVE Fight Federation, Pacific Xtreme Fight and UAE Warriors.
Dy entered the UFC in 2017 as a short-notice substitute and confronted Alex Caceres in his first look. He then fought Teruto Ishihara earlier than incomes a unanimous-decision win over Wuliji Buren in Shanghai. His closing UFC outing got here towards Shane Younger in 2018, a combat that obtained a Struggle of the Evening bonus.
Outdoors the UFC, Dy received the inaugural UAE Warriors featherweight championship in Abu Dhabi in Could 2019 by defeating Erzhan Estanov over 5 rounds. That a part of his profession gave him expertise in several rule units, nations and weight courses earlier than he made the transfer to bare-knuckle competitors.
Dy is the son of Rolando Navarrete, the previous WBC super-featherweight world champion from the Philippines. Navarrete held the WBC 130-pound title in 1981, and Dy’s profession has made the household a uncommon father-and-son championship pairing throughout boxing and bare-knuckle combating.
Dy received the BKB Tremendous Welterweight World Championship when he outpointed Liam Rees by unanimous choice at BKB 49 in Wales on December 5, 2025. The consequence made him the primary Filipino BKB world champion and gave him a belt after a run constructed largely on stoppages.
His first title defence introduced a much bigger identify. At BKB 54 in Manchester in Could, Dy knocked out former two-weight boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi 56 seconds into the second spherical. That win pushed his BKB report to 6-1 and confirmed his place on the prime of the promotion’s super-welterweight division.
Dy was initially booked beneath the heavyweight bout between Newcastle‘s Mick Terrill and Kamil Sokolowski. Terrill suffered a lower whereas stepping in on brief discover towards heavyweight champion Gustavo Trujillo in Miami, leaving inadequate time for the damage to heal earlier than October 10. BKB then elevated Dy’s title defence towards McHugh to the primary occasion.
