UFC lightweight Grant Dawson delivered one of the finest performances of his career at UFC Vegas 76 this past weekend. Dawson dominated Damir Ismagulov in every round of the fight, earning a unanimous decision victory.
At the post-fight press conference, Dawson declared the UFC’s 155-pound division the toughest weight class on the planet, and it’s hard to argue with his logic.
Is This the UFC’s Most Competitive Weight Class?
“You cannot be upset with a win against a guy like Damir. It wasn’t about the performance. If you can get over on a guy like Damir, that’s something to be proud of.
That dude is not ranked No. 12 in the world, he is so much better than that. They just put him at No. 12 for some weird reason, so I’m very, very happy with it.
He’s one of those guys that you go for something and he gets away and ends up winning the round back, or even worse, he gets the finish.
You have to be safe with these guys. These are the best guys in the world, in the top weight class in the world. There is not a harder weight class than 155.
There isn’t. You can say 135 because of all the former champs that are up there, but it’s thinner. The top 15 might look the same, but everything outside the top 15 isn’t even close.”
Dawson has a good point. The UFC lightweight division is particularly top-heavy. Moving up the rankings is a greater challenge at lightweight than in many other divisions. There are potent gatekeepers throughout the rankings, not least in the no-man’s land just behind the top ten.
With Dawson set to claim his opponent’s no. 12 spot, he’s far from a title shot, but Grant Dawson is happy to be on his own path. “I think everybody’s got a different path.
Islam had kind of a weird path where he fought really good guys and then some not so good guys, and then some really good guys and then some not so good guys, and then looked great against the champion.
You’ve got guys like [Mateusz] Gamrot, who is fighting literally anybody. He just called out Rafael Fiziev. Who the hell wants to fight that guy? Win, lose, or draw, you’re coming out with a closed eye, and my guy Gamrot is calling that dude out. What a G. Calls out any tough fight.
Everybody’s path is different. I think I’ve just got to get back into the gym on Monday and get better.”
