The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to us last night, November 5, 2022, for UFC Vegas 64, where Grant Dawson put on a stellar performance to open up the main card.
Dawson faced Olympic silver medalist (Greco-Roman wrestling) Mark Madsen, who was 12-0 coming into the bout, having already gone 4-0 in his UFC tenure. But, his accolades didn’t matter, as Dawson absolutely mauled him, picking up the third round rear naked choke finish.
Grant Dawson remains undefeated in the Octagon
#UFCVegas64 pic.twitter.com/nRH2htPM9l
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 5, 2022
Dawson stated the following in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier:
“I just want to say what an honor it is to be taking Tony Ferguson’s spot in the Top 14. If Tony wants to come and get that spot back, I’m more than willing to defend my newly-ranked No. 15 position against Tony Ferguson next. If me or Tony Ferguson fight anybody else but each other, just know that he turned me down.”
Dawson continued at the post-fight press conference:
“Man, I think the one thing that I am missing on my resume to get the respect from the fans, that I think I deserve, is I haven’t beaten somebody with a huge name. I’ve beaten two undefeated guys, three if you count Leonardo Santos who was undefeated in UFC. And I still feel like, you know, I’m one of the, ‘okay, up and comers.’ I want that respect on my name.
“I’m not upset about it. I understand how this works. I’m not upset. I get it. But, I think a win over Tony Ferguson; I think a finish over Tony Ferguson really stamps my name out there and shows people, ‘Hey, this guy’s for real.’ Also, I can’t wait to be ranked on Monday. I’ve been waiting my whole life to get ranked. I’m getting ranked on Monday.”
This victory improved Dawson’s record to 19-1-1, and he’s now 3-0-1 in the UFC”s lightweight division, securing all three wins via third-round finish. He just doesn’t get tired, his wrestling and MMA grappling is always on point, and his striking also looked incredible last night.
Who would you like to see Grant Dawson face next?
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