Grant Dawson improves to 8-0-1 in the UFC, completely out-classes Damir Ismagulov at UFC Vegas 76
The Ultimate Fighting Championships returns to us tonight for UFC Vegas 76, going down live from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.
Headlining the event is a middleweight showdown between no. 7 ranked Sean Strickland (26-5) and Russian finisher Abus Magomedov (25-4-1).
Co-headlining the event was a lightweight encounter between no. 12 ranked Damir Ismagulov (24-2) and no. 15 ranked Grant Dawson (19-1-1).
Former M-1 Challenge lightweight champion Ismagulov had gone 5-1 inside the octagon going into tonight’s outing, while Grant had gone 7-0-1 through his own eight-fight promotional run.
Continue reading to see how this lightweight encounter went down:
Official Result: (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Dawson is unsuccessful in his initial takedown attempt about 30 seconds in, however he does secure a takedown on his second attempt about one minute later, and it’s absolute domination from here.
Dawson takes Ismagulov’s back and keeps it for over three minutes, where he searches for the rear naked choke and also reigns down some heavy ground and pound toward the end of the opening round.
This is what Grant Dawson does, he’s always been so great at it.
Round two isn’t much different, as Dawson completely out-classes Ismagulov on the mat.
30 seconds into the third and final round and Dawson already has Ismagulov’s back again. He continues to hold this position for the final four-plus minutes left on the clock, accumulating a whopping 13 minutes of ground control.
Grant Dawson has been about as dominant as any contender we’ve seen in recent memory. This was his 20th career victory, it was just his second decision in those 20 wins, and he just completely mauled a former multi-time M-1 Challenge lightweight champion.
Big things have got to come next for Dawson, perhaps a clash with no. 8 ranked Arman Tsarukyan?
If you enjoyed this piece, feel free to share it on social media!
