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

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

currently competing in the

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

division of the

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

(UFC). As of July 1, 2025, 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 777 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, 767 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is part of the Madison, Wisconsin metropolitan area, Mad ...

, but grew up mostly in Stromsburg, Nebraska. Initially dreaming of a career in

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

, Dawson started

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

to aid his primary sport. After realizing he wasn't good enough at American football, he dropped the sport and concentrated solely in wrestling. He was homeschooled until his teens, and attended Cross County Community School 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 (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

, 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 mov ...

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 Michael Charles Trizano (born December 31, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Featherweight division of Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2016, Trizano was the w ...

. 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 Chlorodehydromethyltestosterone (CDMT; brand name Oral Turinabol), also known as 4-chloro-17β-hydroxy17α-methylandrosta-1,4-dien-3-one, is an anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS). It is the 4-chloro-substituted derivative of metandienone (dehyd ...

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, kickboxer ...

(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 U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. 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. 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 Carlos Diego Ferreira Neves (born January 18, 1985) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Legacy FC lightweight champion, and vacate ...

on October 2, 2021, at

UFC Fight Night 193 ''UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Walker'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 193'', ''UFC Vegas 38'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 51'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 2, 2021 at the UFC A ...

. However, Ferreira pulled out of the fight in early-September citing an injury. Instead Dawson faced

Ricky Glenn Ricky Glenn (born April 12, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division of the UFC. A professional since 2006, he is the former World Series of Fighting Featherweight Champion. Background Glenn was born in M ...

on October 23, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 196. The fight ended in majority draw. 8 out of 11 media outlets scored the bout for Dawson. Grant, replacing Rafael Alves, faced

Jared Gordon Jared Gordon (born September 6, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist. He was the lightweight champion of Duelo de Gigantes in Mexico and featherweight champion for Cage Fury Fighting Championships in the United States. He competes in the li ...

on April 30, 2022, at

UFC on ESPN 35 ''UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Vera'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 35'' and ''UFC Vegas 53'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 30, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Neva ...

. 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 ''UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Lemos'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 214, UFC on ESPN+ 72'' and ''UFC Vegas 64'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 5, 2022 at the UFC ...

. 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 proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 30% of his individual purse, which went to his opponent Madsen. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the third round. Grant faced Damir Ismagulov on July 1, 2023, at UFC on ESPN 48. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Dawson faced

Bobby Green King Green (born Bobby Ray Green; September 9, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2008, Green is the former ...

on October 7, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 229. He lost via knockout in the first round. Dawson faced Joe Solecki on June 1, 2024, at UFC 302. With over thirteen minutes of ground control time, Dawson won the fight by unanimous decision. Dawson faced Rafa García on October 12, 2024 at UFC Fight Night 244. He won the fight by technical knockout via ground elbows and punches in the second round. Dawson faced

on January 18, 2025, at UFC 311. After landing six takedowns, he won the fight by unanimous decision. Dawson is scheduled to face Joel Álvarez on August 2, 2025 at UFC on ESPN 71.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** Performance of the Night (Two times) **Second highest control time percentage in UFC Lightweight division history (69.7%) **Highest top-position percentage in UFC Lightweight division history (62.3%) **Fifth most top-position time in UFC Lightweight division history (1:07:38) **UFC.com Awards ***2019: Ranked #4 Newcomer of the Year

Mixed martial arts record

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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 People awarded a black belt in 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 21st-century American sportsmen