Grant Dawson (born February 20, 1994) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

currently competing in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight b ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. As of December 19, 2022, he is #15 in the UFC lightweight rankings.

Background

Dawson was born in

Cambria, Wisconsin Cambria is a village in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 767 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The town was incorporated in 1866. It was first called Florence, or L ...

, but grew up mostly in Stromsburg, Nebraska. Initially dreaming of football career, Dawson started wrestling to aid his primary sport. After realizing he wasn't good enough at football, he dropped the sport and concentrated solely in wrestling. He was homeschooled until his teens, and attended

Cross County Community School Cross County Community School District is a consolidated school district in Polk County, Nebraska, United States. In 2002, the communities of Benedict and Stromsburg consolidated their school districts to form Cross County Public Schools. The s ...

where he competed in high school wrestling, finishing his senior season with a record of 40–8. After graduating from high school but skipping college due to

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

, Dawson decided to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After compiling an amateur record of 8–1, Dawson started his professional MMA career in 2014. He amassed a professional record of 11–1 prior to participating in

Dana White's Contender Series Dana White's Contender Series, formerly named Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series, is an American mixed martial arts promotion. In May 2017, the UFC announced White would hold the competition weekly on UFC Fight Pass (It has since been move ...

Dana White's Contender Series

Dawson appeared on the first season of the program Dana White's Contender Series 6. He faced Adrian Diaz on August 17, 2017 and won the fight by submission due to a rear-naked choke in round two. With the win, Dawson was offered a UFC contract.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Dawson made his UFC debut on March 9, 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. dos Santos against

Julian Erosa Julian Ricardo Dulican Erosa (born July 31, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Erosa is also a former CageSport Featherweight and Lightweight Champ ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. His next fight came on May 18, 2019 at UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee against Michael Trizano. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke in round two. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award. Dawson was scheduled to meet Chas Skelly on January 18, 2020 at UFC 246. However, Dawson was flagged by

USADA The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti-doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

the second times where the initial flagging was in November 2017 for a residual metabolite of the steroid Turinabol which it was subsequent cleared by USDADA for not able to determine when Dawson had ingested the banned substance, and that resulted in the

Nevada State Athletic Commission The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, ...

(NSAC) pulling bout from UFC 246. The subsequent finding from USADA found no evidence of performance enhancement of a re-ingestion of a banned drug. However, NSAC would revisit the matter in July, 2020 to determine to issue Nevada fighter licence Dawson and Dawson would have to undergo testing twice a month. The bout was rescheduled on February 29, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo at

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 cen ...

. On February 7, 2020 it was reported that Skelly was injured during one of his training session and was forced to withdraw from the event, and he was replaced by promotional newcomer Darrick Minner. At the weigh-ins, Dawson also failed to make weight, coming in at 149.5 pounds, 3.5 pounds over the featherweight non-title limit of 146 pounds. He was fined 30% of his fight purse, which went to Minner and the bout proceeded at a catchweight. Dawson won the fight via a submission in round two. Dawson faced Nad Narimani on July 19, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Dawson faced Leonardo Santos on March 20, 2021 at

UFC on ESPN 21 ''UFC on ESPN: Brunson vs. Holland'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 21'' and ''UFC Vegas 22'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 20, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, ...

. He won the fight via knockout in round three. This win earned him the'' Performance of the Night'' award. Grant was scheduled to face Carlos Diego Ferreira on October 2, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 193. However, Ferreira pulled out of the fight in early-September citing an injury. Instead Dawson faced Rick Glenn on October 23, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 196. The fight ended in majority draw. Grant, replacing Rafael Alves, faced Jared Gordon on April 30, 2022 at UFC on ESPN 35. He won the bout via rear-naked choke late into the third round. Grant faced Mark Madsen, replacing Drakkar Klose, November 5, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 214. At the weigh-ins, Dawson weighed in at 157.5 pounds, one and a half pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit. His bout is expected to proceed at catchweight and he will be fined 30% of his individual purse, which will go to his opponent Madsen. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the third round.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** Performance of the Night (Two times)

Mixed martial arts record

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–1 , Mike Plazola , Submission (triangle choke) , Kansas City Fighting Alliance 20 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:49 ,

Independence, Missouri Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Christian Camp , TKO (elbows and punches) , VFC 52 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:43 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–1 , Hugh Pulley , TKO (punches) , Kansas City Fighting Alliance 18 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:35 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Robert Washington , TKO (punches) , Titan FC 37 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:08 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Bryce Logan , TKO (punches) , Victory Fighting Championship 47 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:12 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Andrew Carrillo , Submission (rear-naked choke) , rowspan=2, Kansas City Fighting Alliance 15 , rowspan=2, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:21 , rowspan=2,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Danny Tims , Submission (rear-naked choke) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:15 , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Chris McDaniel , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ShoFight: Branson Brawl , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:07 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Jeremiah Denson , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Omaha Fight Club 100 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:29 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Grant 1994 births Living people American male mixed martial artists American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Featherweight mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male sport wrestlers Amateur wrestlers