Grant Dawson is entering the biggest fight of his career tomorrow night (Sat., Oct. 7, 2023) at UFC Vegas 80 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the streaking lightweight contender takes on veteran Bobby Green in the main event. It’s the first time Dawson is headlining a UFC event, but he still doesn’t consider himself a top draw in the division just yet.
Dawson, 29, has turned in a 8-0-1 record since his UFC arrival back in 2019. He also had a submission finish on Dana White’s Contender Series to get to the big show. Over the past few years Dawson has downright dominated the competition that the promotion has put in his way and it’s finally time for the strong grappler to test his ability against better fighters. Green may be on the back end of his storied career, but he’s a good test for Dawson at this point in time.
If Dawson is able to capitalize on his first main event bid and push his UFC unbeaten streak to 10 then it would launch him into the upper echelon of contenders in the 155-pound division. But that doesn’t mean Dawson will get the biggest fights available to him. In fact, the rising contender believes a few lightweight names will be off limits no matter how good he performs. That includes rival Ultimate Fighter coaches Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, who are expected to fight sometime in early 2024.
“There are guys in the lightweight rankings that I don’t even consider being in the lightweight rankings,” Dawson told MMA Fighting. “Because there’s no chance of me fighting them. For example, if Conor and Chandler fight each other – which I still don’t think is going to happen – but if does happen, and Conor knocks out Michael Chandler, and they put him [ranked] at No. 5, I don’t consider him No. 5. Because there’s no way they’ll ever put Grant Dawson against Conor McGregor.
“There’s really no point in him being ranked. I don’t think Michael Chandler is in that boat, either. I don’t think Michael Chandler is in the position where he fights somebody that isn’t a huge draw.
“I’m a realist. I get it. I’m not a huge draw. I’m an up and comer. I haven’t proven myself yet. There’s no way Michael Chandler fights a guy like me.”
It’s rare that a young up-and-coming fighter puts his division stock in perspective quite like Dawson does, but it sounds like he’s being realistic about how the UFC machine works. And even if Dawson did get big enough to fight someone like McGregor he doesn’t believe “Notorious” will ever compete again.
“I don’t think he’s coming back,” Dawson said. “I don’t think he’s fighting. I think he’s going through a mid-life crisis right now. I think he’s hopped up on a bunch of street drugs. We’re going kind of deep here but the thing that makes people happy isn’t chasing happiness, it’s chasing purpose. Conor used to have a purpose, and I believe Conor doesn’t have a purpose anymore, and that’s why his life is kind of going to sh-t.
“He just doesn’t know what he wants to do. He doesn’t need to do anything. He doesn’t have to do anything. He’s just in this point where he doesn’t know what his purpose in life is and I think that’s he’s so all over the place. ‘Oh, I’m going to box, oh I’m going to do bare-knuckle, oh I’m going to fight Michael Chandler, oh I’m going to do The Ultimate Fighter.’ It’s just bouncing between what he wants to do. I’m retired again, now I’m not retired again. I just think he needs to find some purpose outside of MMA if he really wants to be happy.”
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