Grant Dawson explains ‘exactly why’ he’s not getting top names at lightweight
UFC 323 fighter Grant Dawson spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for his preliminary card bout vs. Manuel Torres
LAS VEGAS – Grant Dawson met the media Wednesday ahead of his fight at UFC 323.
Dawson (23-2-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) takes on Manuel Torres (16-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) in the featured lightweight bout on the prelims Saturday at T-Mobile Arena (pay-per-view, ESPN2/FX/Disney+, ESPN+). At media day, Dawson took questions from members of the press corps before his fight.
Dawson said he thinks Torres is one of the most dangerous up-and-coming fighters at 155 pounds – though he might not be the most heralded name right now.
“I think it’s a very stiff challenge for me,” Dawson said. “I do think he’s one of the most dangerous guys in our division. If not, Terrance McKinney might be a little bit more dangerous. But he’s very, very dangerous, and I’m ready for it.
“I have striking. I know people don’t think I do. I can strike – I just haven’t had to at this point. I think being super sharp and super safe is going to be the key to victory. Obviously, I’d love to get the takedown, ride him out, hopefully get a choke or TKO along the way. But if he’s able to stuff every single one of my takedowns, I’ll bring other weapons out.”
Dawson said he’s got a hunch why, even 13 fights into his UFC career, with 11 wins, he hasn’t been getting bigger names when the contracts come across the table. Coincidentally, it’s a conversation that is relevant these days: Dawson thinks if he had more followers on social media, his click rate would go up on his level of opponent, too.
“I know exactly why it is. I did this one day just because I’m petty. I looked at how many Instagram followers I have, and how many Instagram every single fighter in the top 15 has, and every single one of them, individually, could lose 100,000 followers and still have more followers than me.
“I totally get it. I’m a tough fight, and it’s very high risk, low reward (to fight me), so I totally get it. I’ve tried being the bad guy (persona), I’ve tried throwing the quarter ‘off my wife’s dumptruck’ thing – I thought that was going to go super viral. I’m just going to be me and fight everybody they put in front of me.”
Check out Dawson’s full media day interview in the video above.
