Coming off his first loss in four fights, C.B. Dollaway will look to get back on the winning track this Sunday at UFC on Versus 5, where he will meet Jared Hamman.
In his last fight, Dollaway became one of the few fighters to secure a takedown against NCAA Division I wrestling champion Mark Munoz. However, after letting Munoz back to his feet, Dollaway was rocked by a counter right hand.
Despite the knockout loss, Dollaway went into the fight against Munoz with plans of beating his opponent in the stand-up. An All-American wrestler at Arizona State University, Dollaway wasn’t overly discouraged by the loss to Munoz and has been tightening up his left hook to prevent being countered in the future.
“I felt fine out there,” Dollaway told Bleacher Report MMA in an exclusive interview. “I just basically thought I was going to have a better outing on the feet. I thought I had the advantage. I’ve been working on my striking a lot and just got caught with that punch. I wasn’t even really looking to take him down a whole lot. I was planning on being on the feet a lot and s–t happens, so nothing I could do about it.”
Shortly after his loss to Munoz, Dollaway participated in the grand opening of Power MMA alongside Ryan Bader and Aaron Simpson. Since the three training partners had recently left their previous gym, Arizona Combat Sports, Dollaway’s training camp for his fight with Munoz was a bit chaotic.
“I think the only thing it affected was not having a home there for awhile, just kind of training wherever we could,” Dollaway said. “Now, we’re starting to get things settled in, starting to get a training regimen down and getting our camp more organized. I think that was kind of part of it, not having everything organized and set up like we needed to have it.”
Dollaway stopped short of blaming his loss on the transition between gyms, though, and he stated that the temporary distraction was necessary to ensure the future success for him and his teammates.
“We knew that might have to be a sacrifice you have to make for a little bit,” Dollaway said. “In the long run, it’s going to be the best thing for us.”
Recently, changing weight division has been a popular route for fighters to take after losing a fight. Even the fighter who defeated Dollaway in the Season 7 finale of The Ultimate Fighter, Amir Sadollah, has made the move from middleweight to welterweight.
Although fighters like Sadollah have found success by cutting to lower weight classes, Dollaway doesn’t see himself making a move unless he runs out of options at 185 pounds.
“I’m comfortable at middleweight,” Dollaway said. “I’ve toyed around with the idea of moving to 170, but it’s just one of those things that, unless I have my back against the wall, I probably never would do. It’d be a significant cut. It’d take time. It’s not something I could do in eight weeks.”
Dollaway’s opponent, Hamman, has not fought in nearly one year and will be making his middleweight debut after taking his first three fights in the UFC at light heavyweight. Dollaway, who has remained relatively active at the same weight for his whole MMA career, believes Hamman’s potential ring rust and weight cut could have an impact on the outcome of the fight.
“I think the layoff will play a factor,” Dollaway said. “He hasn’t been in the ring in a long time. Like I said, when you move down a weight class, it’s not something you can do in eight weeks. I don’t know when he planned on making the move to 185. I don’t know what he cut to get to 205, but I’m sure he cut something, but it’s going to be a significant move down and we’ll see how he reacts. I definitely think it’ll play a factor.”
Hamman’s last fight, which happened in September 2010, came against a sporadic training partner of Dollaway’s in Kyle Kingsbury. While Kingsbury hasn’t trained with Dollaway regularly during his training for the fight with Hamman, he has still given “The Doberman” a few tips on how he was able to come away victorious in a unanimous decision over Hamman.
“[Kingsbury] trains with us from time to time,” Dollaway said. “He’s not here full-time. But he’s told me some things, gave me some inside information on things that he found worked in his fight with him. So, yeah, he’s helped out a little.”
Although he appears to hold a distinct advantage over Hamman in the wrestling department, Dollaway will look to mix things up and beat Hamman in all areas.
“Obviously, he doesn’t have much of a wrestling background, so I can capitalize on the takedowns,” Dollaway said. “On the ground, he’s a purple belt. I’m a purple belt too, so it’ll be a good technical matchup on the ground. I think I have enough striking on the feet to stand there with him, so I’m just going to mix it up, not get stuck in one mindset and just go wherever the fight needs to go.”
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Sean has also had his work featured on UFC.com. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.
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