Clear from USADA violation, Grant Dawson earns UFC contract once again
It has been quite the road for featherweight prospect Grant Dawson.
After earning a UFC contract during the inaugural season of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, Dawson would be notified in November 2017 of a potential USADA violation after a positive drug test and was, subsequently, released by the organization before making his Octagon debut.
A little over a year later, “The Prophet” officially cleared his name and had all violations dismissed by USADA. According to sources close to the situation, Dawson has officially signed a new contract with the UFC.
Sources tell MyMMANews.com that a debut opponent has not been signed as of yet, but Dawson’s debut “will be soon and it looks to be a short notice fight.”
The soon to be 25-year-old Dawson has won three straight and 12 out of his 13 professional fights. Dawson earned his long-awaited shot with the UFC after a second-round submission of Adrian Diaz at DWTNCS 6 in August 2017. Prior to his shot to compete in front of Dana White and the UFC matchmakers, Dawson picked up a second-round TKO win over Christian Camp at Victory FC 52 in July 2016 and a first-round submission victory over Mike Plazola at October 2016’s KC Fighting Alliance 20 event.
When speaking to Dawson, he told MyMMANews.com that losing the last 14 months of his career “was worth it” to clear his name. It didn’t matter how long, or how much, it would take to make that a reality, but getting the violations dismissed and moving forward was more important than taking a shortened suspension to continue his career.
Dawson has been working diligently on his MMA game throughout the investigation. Knowing that he didn’t have to worry about preparing for a fight and a specific opponent has made Dawson “a better fighter and a better mixed martial artist.”
Update: Dawson confirmed the signing via Facebook on Saturday afternoon.
