Grant Dawson - A great fighter that no one cares about

[Ares Black]

I would like to see fighting against Joel Alvarez El Fenómeno for the 15 rank. It would be insane. Both have good streak and god finishes.

I like it

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

thank you, the guy needs a hug

No one has ever complimented him on his ass, poor guy.

 

[Ares Black]

Hughes got KO'd by Pelé and tapped twice by Hallman.

Yeah, an both of those guys are absolutely legit. Neither is a bad loss.

You get way too hung up on losses considering it's MMA.

It's the nature of the losses that matter. Getting smoked by a journeyman is a really bad look.

 

[JustOnce]

Good question


It's a pretty short list, especially if we are only talking about active fighters.

Off the top of my head

Makhachev
Volkanovski
Topuria
Jones

There are probably a dozen more that I could comfortably call great fighters.

I'd have a hard time describing any fighter who hasn't won a championship yet as a "great" fighter, even if I thought they might be.

Greatness is not rational, it's something that must be experienced.

I'm really just arguing semantics TBH. The difference between very good and great is matter of opinion. There are a lot of very good fighters but hardly any great ones, IMO.

I definitely think Dawson, and many of the other fighters discussed are here good fighters. Even Bobby Green is pretty good.

I just think the word great is thrown around top much.

you can be still great without a title, ask nico montano.

but that is four great great fighters tho

 

[StewDogg11]

Good question


It's a pretty short list, especially if we are only talking about active fighters.

Off the top of my head

Makhachev
Volkanovski
Topuria
Jones

There are probably a dozen more that I could comfortably call great fighters.

I'd have a hard time describing any fighter who hasn't won a championship yet as a "great" fighter, even if I thought they might be.

Greatness is not rational, it's something that must be experienced.

I'm really just arguing semantics TBH. The difference between very good and great is matter of opinion. There are a lot of very good fighters but hardly any great ones, IMO.

I definitely think Dawson, and many of the other fighters discussed are here good fighters. Even Bobby Green is pretty good.

I just think the word great is thrown around top much.

Well I’m a Dawson fan and I don’t think anyone’s claiming he’s going to ever be in the Top 10 of all-time conversation. His chin is shaky and I don’t think he has the top line cardio to go for 25 minutes especially if some resistance is being offered.

 

[JustOnce]

No one has ever complimented him on his ass, poor guy.

lmao, darn it that's a good one actually lol

*writes it down on my sherdog notebook for later use*

 

[Rektkid]

i think islam would outgrapple Dawson, but it'd be interesting if Dawson, if he can get on top, if Islam can get up if not against the cage. I think he can. But his grappling is a suffocating one.

It is, he's a big bloke and he's brilliant at controlling space.

 

[JustOnce]

Well I’m a Dawson fan and I don’t think anyone’s claiming he’s going to ever be in the Top 10 of all-time conversation. His chin is shaky and I don’t think he has the top line cardio to go for 25 minutes especially if some resistance is being offered.

yeah he did gas against the other guy, but that style is exhausting on the other guy too so might still be able to go five. I don't see Merab around unfortunately in that lw division...islam and arman did at times, not often, look sus in five rounders too...

 

[JustOnce]

It is, he's a big bloke and he's brilliant at controlling space.

he is terrifyingly boring but good at the same time. ;;;

 

[Thesnake101]

Yeah, an both of those guys are absolutely legit. Neither is a bad loss.

Pelé had already lost to Menne by that point and would go on to accrue 5 straight losses, the worst of which was against Japanese Homer Simpson in Matsui. He was a journeyman as far as skills go by the time Hughes fought him.

As far as Dennis goes, he was the very definition of a journeyman. Well traveled, respected and a test for prospects but at no point was he an actual threat to the title at 170.

 

[Ares Black]

Well I’m a Dawson fan and I don’t think anyone’s claiming he’s going to ever be in the Top 10 of all-time conversation. His chin is shaky and I don’t think he has the top line cardio to go for 25 minutes especially if some resistance is being offered.

Honestly, I think my opinion comes mostly from playing myself in the lead up up the fight.

I tend to avoid making bold predictions due to the unpredictable nature of MMA. I almost always recognize the possibility of being wrong, even if I'm pretty confident.

I was fucking positive that Dawson would beat Green and make it look easy. I said so loudly and often.

And I was wrong.


Dammit, Grant! Making me look like an idiot!

I mean, even moreso that usual.

 

[Ares Black]

Pelé had already lost to Menne by that point and would go on to accrue 5 straight losses, the worst of which was against Japanese Homer Simpson in Matsui. He was a journeyman as far as skills go by the time Hughes fought him.

I disagree. Pele was a legend and extremely dangerous throughout his career.

As far as Dennis goes, he was the very definition of a journeyman. Well traveled, respected and a test for prospects but at no point was he an actual threat to the title at 170.

Nah man, by the time he made it back to the UFC he was approaching journeyman status but when he beat Hughes he was world-class. He was one of the best grapplers in the sport.

 

[Deltron 6060]

He's a solid bet every fight, never a huge favorite but usually favored.

 

[JustOnce]

He's a solid bet every fight, never a huge favorite but usually favored.

he's usually massive favourite.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Every human beings can get one shot. I wanna see BSD vs Dawson next.

You don't match up a loss vs a win, its basic match making. It allows you to continue to build fighters. BDS needs to fight someone else coming off a loss, that way one can get a win. Same goes for Dawson. He fights someone who won so one of them advances.

 

[JustOnce]

You don't match up a loss vs a win, its basic match making. It allows you to continue to build fighters. BDS needs to fight someone else coming off a loss, that way one can get a win. Same goes for Dawson. He fights someone who won so one of them advances.

Alvarez like someone suggested is a great option. I think he gonna get steel blanketed, but he's on a run, he's looking good and dangerous

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Some guys just bring a certain wrestling-style that just so happens to be very very effective in mma

D-1 wrestling isn’t some standard for mma, some would argue its too much wrestling for mma as you need to dump so many moves off your repertoire that would leave you exposed in “no-rule” combat. Some guys excel in moves that propel them in scholastic sports, some guys learn enough wrestling and favor moves that happen to be good for “no-rule” combat


Young Diego Sanchez, Mighty Mouse, Dominic Cruz and many others just wrestled at the high-school level and were great mma grapplers that could grapple you without you stopping it

I find high-school level wrestling is very underrated for mma and it doesn’t ingrain too much “sport-specific” tendencies that could be bad for mma should you wrestle collegiately. And thats a great stage to transition to actual combat grappling to include your positional differences, subs/sub-defenses, and good ol’ ground-n-pound


Grant Dawson, also wrestled up to end of high-school, meanwhile imposing that level wrestling on his foes in the UFC and utilizing the back-takes from wrestling to use jiu-jitsu positions

 

[JustOnce]

Some guys just bring a certain wrestling-style that just so happens to be very very effective in mma

D-1 wrestling isn’t some standard for mma, some would argue its too much wrestling for mma as you need to dump so many moves off your repertoire that would leave you exposed in “no-rule” combat. Some guys excel in moves that propel them in scholastic sports, some guys learn enough wrestling and favor moves that happen to be good for “no-rule” combat


Young Diego Sanchez, Mighty Mouse, Dominic Cruz and many others just wrestled at the high-school level and were great mma grapplers that could grapple you without you stopping it

I find high-school level wrestling is very underrated for mma and it doesn’t ingrain too much “sport-specific” tendencies that could be bad for mma should you wrestle collegiately. And thats a great stage to transition to actual combat grappling to include your positional differences, subs/sub-defenses, and good ol’ ground-n-pound


Grant Dawson, also wrestled up to end of high-school, meanwhile imposing that level wrestling on his foes in the UFC and utilizing the back-takes from wrestling to use jiu-jitsu positions

i think usually d1 wins over d2, but you can still be good, i think it's just individual thing. i remember this one bellator fight, i forget what it was, it was decorated d1 guy vs decorated d2 guy and it wasn't close in wrestling.

Diego lost to all the d1 guys. I don't actually think Cruz nor MM fought high level d1 guys. I don't think Faber and TJ were high level d1 guys, they were just good enough to qualify.

I do know one thing though, all those guys were elites, and Dawson is too. But just hella more boring.

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

I had my eyes on Dawson since his fight against Trizano. I thought he was really good, and he is 23-2 now (11-1-1 in UFC, 12-1-1 if you count the contenders series). No one cares about the guy.

It's similar to how Merab really didn't get much love around here. Colby to a similar degree before he started talking mad shit. But oh boy, Grant Dawson is as boring as they come. I never found Colby or Merab boring, though a lot of people seem to do. But oh boy this Dawson guy, his record is deceptive, he has finishes, but only against guys who can't handle his grappling game, and if they can, oh dear lord, probably one of the most boring fighters that UFC ever had if not THE most.

But he's good. I wanted him against Gamrot and Tsarukyan since a couple years ago, but getting ktfo by Bobby green might have slowed him down a bit up the ranks.

I rarely watch fighters to see them lose and Dawson is one of them. He sounds super likable though, I wish him the best, but his style I just can't handle.

Dawson is a very interesting case, because I think UFC tries not to sign guys like Dawson. As a matter of fact, Danny Sabatello in a way is a very similar fighter at BW.

Dawson was 11-1 before Dana's contender series with 8 subs and 3 tkos, with 100 percent finish rate.
Sabatello was 8-1 before Dana's conotender series with 4 subs and 3 kos, with 87.5 percent finish rate.

Dawson subbed his opponent in that series fight, and Sabatello decisioned his opponent. Who knows if it had more to do with the submission defense of their opponents? Both of their opponents were never subbed before and Sabatello's opponent is the one who continues to still fight, still never been subbed, and about to fight Thomas Almedia next.

It's ironic that Danny Sabatello will never get into UFC, though he likely beats a lot of their division. Also, I'd even argue that Sabatello faced guys and lost to guys who is better than Dawson fought in his entire UFC run: Stots and Magomed.

MMA is a cruel sport, and luck at times has something to do with it, and politics. Probably no one will remember Sabatello, and it looks like he might be done after the last fight which might have been a robbery, but having never been to UFC, almost as good as Dawson with a similar game, may have faced better opponents. If Dawson fought someone like Stots and Magomed in UFC, who knows if Dawson would still be undefeated? But I digress.

Dawson was able to face mostly non-wrestler guys in a division that used to be a shark tank of wrestlers you could say. Madsen was like 38 years old at lightweight division. Thing is, I feel like UFC tries not to sign guys like Dawson. But Dawson was finishing guys in a lesser league, so UFC likely couldn't foresee the terrifying force of boredom that they were signing. But because they don't sign wrestlers like they used to, Dawson is able to stay on a dominant run. Even Ferreira, he's a solid veteran, but he has a dogshit TDD.

What do you think about Dawson and who do you wanna see him fight next?

I don't think he's a great fighter. I see his ceiling somewhere between a ranking of 5-10. I don't think he's good enough to ever challenge for a title. He's the LW version of Bryce Mitchell without the kookie theories. As for his next opponent, Turner or Saint Denis.

 

[JustOnce]

I don't think he's a great fighter. I see his ceiling somewhere between a ranking of 5-10. I don't think he's good enough to ever challenge for a title. He's the LW version of Bryce Mitchell without the kookie theories. As for his next opponent, Turner or Saint Denis.

he is a great fighter. bruh moicano is in top 10 and chandler is top 7 lol. he's better than 5-10.

he's good enough. he's more like mitchell with better wrestling but less submissions.

not as good as eric silva though obviously.

and yes those fights make sense but not sure if turner wants that smoke lmaaao