Grant Dawson Pressuring Forward in Development

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 246 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

For rising prospect and Contender Series contract winner Grant Dawson, every fight is another step in his development. At UFC 246, inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Chas Skelly will be tasked with testing the youngster’s growth as a mixed martial artist. It is a fighting exam about which Dawson feels very confident as he approaches fight night.

“I think it’s the willingness to engage in grappling with me. I think that 90-percent of the guys that I have fought have said, ‘I’m going to stuff the takedown and I’m going to strike with him.’ Then when stuffing the takedown doesn’t work, they all break. One thing that’s really exciting for me is we know what the gameplan is. Chas is going to try and wrestle me. I’m going to try to wrestle him. I’m going to fight him from bell to bell. You guys are going to see some defensive wrestling and re-wrestling. There’s going to be a lot of awesome scrambles here, and I think that one thing he’s underestimating is my ability to continue scrambling over 15 to 25 minutes. I don’t think he beats me in a wrestling match. I don’t think he beats me in striking. I don’t think he beats me in checkers.”

Along with breaking down his upcoming fight with Skelly on Jan. 18, Dawson spoke about his pressure style of fighting and why it has been successful for him, including in his pivotal May win against The Ultimate Fighter Season 27 winner Mike Trizano. He also spoke about lessons learned from his coach and fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter James Krause, as well as why he has not had the nickname “The Prophet” for some time.