UFC News & Features5 Defining Moments: Grant Dawson
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The American Top Team standout will carry an 18-1-1 record into his showdown with onetime Olympic silver medalist Mark O. Madsen in a featured UFC Fight Night 214 attraction on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Dawson, 28, climbs into the Octagon on the strength of a 10-fight unbeaten streak. He last competed at UFC on ESPN 35, where he submitted former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Jared Gordon with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their April 30 confrontation.
As Dawson approaches his upcoming battle with Madsen at 155 pounds,
a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him to
this point:
1. Elbow Grease
Hugh Pulley handed “KGD” his only professional defeat when he took care of the Titan Fighting Championship alum with a volley of short-range elbows in the first round of their Kansas City Fighting Alliance 18 main event on April 30, 2016 at the Truman Memorial Building in Independence, Missouri. Dawson, who entered the cage with a perfect 9-0 record, succumbed to blows 35 seconds into Round 1. Pulley broke the ice with a powerful leg kick, then went on the defensive. Dawson buzzed the tower with an overhand right, swooped in for an attempted single-leg and pressed his counterpart to the fence. However, in his haste to secure the takedown, he left his head exposed. Pulley responded with a quick burst of elbows that drove the Cambria, Wisconsin, native to his knees and prompted referee Mike England to intervene in anticlimactic fashion. Dawson protested the stoppage, to no avail.
2. A Ticket to Ride
Dawson nailed down his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract when he disposed of onetime Tachi Palace Fights champion Adrian Diaz with a second-round rear-naked choke during Season 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series on Aug. 15, 2017 at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas. Diaz bowed out 1:15 into Round 2. Dawson gave the Team Alpha Male export the wood chipper treatment. Just 23 years of age at the time, he delivered a takedown inside the first minute and tore into Diaz with punches, hammerfists and slashing elbows. He advanced to the back in the waning moments of the first round and locked in a rear-naked choke as the horn sounded. It was a sign of things to come. Dawson struck for another takedown at the start of the middle stanza, wheeled to the back and cinched a seated rear-naked choke to force the tapout.
3. Separate Ways
The fast-rising Dawson submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 27 winner Michael Trizano with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 152 prelim on May 18, 2019 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. The previously unbeaten Trizano waved the white flag 2:27 into Round 2. Dawson pressed forward with a chin-first approach and absorbed a number of punishing jabs on his way in, resulting in visible damage to his right eye. He was undeterred, took down Trizano inside the first minute of the second round and advanced to full mount before transitioning to the back. From there, Dawson flattened out the Team Tiger Schulmann export and cinched the fight-ending choke.
4. Hammerfists of Fury
Dawson took care of “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” Season 2 winner Leonardo Santos with third-round punches as part of the UFC on ESPN 21 undercard on March 20, 2021 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Santos met his end 4:59 into Round 3, suffering his first defeat in nearly 12 years. The first 10 minutes saw give and take from both men, leading the decisive third round. There, a fatiguing Santos conceded a takedown and accepted bottom position. Dawson progressed to half guard and applied some sustained but relatively ineffective ground-and-pound into the waning moments. As Santos zeroed in on an ill-advised heel hook, his counterpart stood above him and dropped one hammerfist after another until he was unconscious. So concluded the Nova Uniao product’s 13-fight unbeaten streak.
5. Breaking Even
Glory MMA’s Dawson fought to a majority draw with former World Series of Fighting Ricky Glenn in the UFC Fight Night 196 co-main event on Oct. 23, 2021 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Judge Douglas Crosby saw it 29-28 for Dawson, while Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee scored it even at 28-28. Dawson appeared to be headed to a clear-cut unanimous decision after he controlled the first 10 minutes with takedowns and positional control. He even threatened with a shoulder choke in the middle stanza. Glenn was undeterred. He denied Dawson’s bids for takedowns in the third round, settled in top position and tore into the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate with damaging ground-and-pound. Glenn made a late pass at a finish with a brabo choke in the closing seconds, only to have time run out on his efforts.
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