Future Friday: Grant Dawson is happy to be in the UFC, but that’s only part of the plan
By Mike Heck
Grant Dawson earned a UFC contract during Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series and is looking to debut in December.
For 23-year-old Grant Dawson, getting to the UFC was more of a foregone conclusion than a goal.
Dawson earned a UFC contract with his impressive victory over Team Alpha Male’s Adrian Diaz during week 6 of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. He submitted Diaz in the second round to tally his 12th victory in 13 career professional bouts, along with continuing his 100 percent finish rate. “The Prophet” feels that he is just getting started.
“Am I happy to be in the UFC? Absolutely! Part one of my goal is done,” Dawson told FanSided MMA. “But make no mistake about it; my goal wasn’t to get into the UFC. My goal was to become a UFC world champion. That’s my only goal. I’m happy to be in the UFC. Things are starting to go my way, but I still have that chip on my shoulder. I’m still in the gym, I’m still hungry. Nothing has changed.”
Fighting at the iconic TUF Gym was a surreal experience for Dawson. Having the performance he had in front of UFC president Dana White, along with matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard in that nostalgic building was the cherry on top. The talent pool, along with the overall entertainment, throughout the inaugural season of DWTNCS exceeded expectations. There were a variety of fantastic performances that did not equate to getting a UFC contract. Dawson’s showing back in August seemed to leave very little doubt in anyone’s mind that he belonged in the UFC.
“I was pretty confident,” Dawson said. “I did everything that I needed to do. I sat down with James (Krause) when we got the call and I was like, ‘Hey, do I need to change something up? Do I need to not wrestle? Do I need to do flying knees and elbows to impress Dana?’ He told me, ‘No, man! Just do you. Let’s just up everything. Instead of throwing 100 punches on the ground, let’s throw 200. We went in there and did just that – I think the punch count was 151 to 7. So I was pretty confident that I was going to get it and my coach never talks in absolutes, but he was pretty certain too.
“My coach was going crazy,” Dawson continued. “I looked over at Dana and he’s standing and clapping. I told him, ‘Hey, contract.’ He nodded his head like ‘you got it.’ I was pretty confident I was going to get the contract.”
Dawson, who trains at Glory MMA and Fitness in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, felt that his opportunity at the UFC could come at any time following an impressive 9-0 start to his career. After defeating Robert Washington via second-round TKO at Titan FC 37 in March 2016, “The Prophet” tasted defeat for the first time in his career the following month.
“I understand the game. You have to respect the game,” Dawson explained. “Nothing in this world is given and some people have to work harder than others to get what they want. Sage Northcutt got in at 18 with two fights and he’s making $80,000 a fight. I’m 12-1 with 12 finishes and I’m just getting in. I’m not even close to getting that amount of money but that doesn’t bug me. That’s life. That’s the world. There’s going to be people who get things faster. You just got to put your nose down, quit complaining about things and keep grinding until you get what you want. That’s what I was doing. I had a setback with the loss, I bounced right back, I learned a lot from that loss and I moved down a weight class. Now I’m dominating at that weight class.”
It seemed to be a small hurdle for Dawson as he bounced back with back-to-back finishes to round out 2016. He would have to overcome some more adversity, which included missing weight before his scheduled fight back in February for KC Fighting Alliance. Much like in team sports, setbacks can provide perspective and rejuvenation.
“So I had almost a year layoff,” Dawson said. “Yes, I missed weight. I hurt my knee for one fight, I missed weight for the next fight and ended up being not able to compete. It was a bunch of little things, personal stuff in my life. [I was getting] a little burnt out, yes, but I was still training every day. The desire to diet and the desire to sit in the hot tub and cut weight was just not there. I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason, but I am glad that it did happen that way. I did need to reset my mind a little bit. I’ve got the hunger back. I’ve got that want back. Everything in life is great. I’m so focused on getting that world title that nothing could be better.”
Dawson has regained his desire to become to become a UFC world champion. The next step for one of the organization’s newest featherweights is to make his debut, which all signs point to it taking place in December. No matter who he debuts against, Dawson is confident he will get his hand raised and a microphone put in his face.
“My biggest pet peeve is when a fighter is asked, ‘Who do you want to fight next?’, and they say, ‘whoever the UFC wants’. I hate that,” Dawson stated. “They didn’t ask the UFC who they want you to fight next, they asked you who you wanted to fight next. I will always have a name for you. I don’t know who my first opponent will be but I know who I’m going to call out after that. I want to fight Dennis Siver. Dennis Siver is the worst 45er, outside of BJ Penn, in the division. But I know that I can beat him up and he’s a name. So that’s going to get my name out there. As soon as I win my debut, I’m calling him out and if he’s any bit of a man as he says he is then he will stand up and fight me.”
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Grant Dawson plans on making statements early and often in the beginning stages of his UFC career. “The Prophet” has his eyes set on accomplishing his goal of having Dana White wrap the UFC featherweight title around his waist in the near future; that’s why he’s putting the entire 145-pound division on notice.
“I will be destroying people in the UFC,” Dawson stated. “I will be a top contender. I’m not stupid, there’s a few guys that I know are tough matchups but I think I can compete with any of these guys. I think from Max Holloway on down, these guys are in trouble. A year from now, I’m going to be three times better so they better get me soon.”