Grant Dawson submits Jared Gordon late at UFC on ESPN 35
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, April 30, 2022, for UFC on ESPN 35, going down live from the Apex Center in Enterprise, Nevada.
Headlining the card is a bantamweight bout between ranked contenders Rob Font (no. 5) and Marlon Vera (no. 8).
Co-headlining the event is a heavyweight contest that sees former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski face off against Jake Collier.
Arlovski, to our surprise, has gone 5-1 over his last six, while Collier has gone 2-2 since moving up to the heavyweight division.
Our first feature fight of the night came in the lightweight division between Jared Gordon and Grant Dawson.
Gordon has gone 3-0 since being finished by current lightweight champion Charles Oliveira back in 2019, and Dawson has gone 5-0-1 (1-0-1 at lightweight) thus far into his UFC career.
Continue reading to see how this lightweight bout went down:
Official Result: Grant Dawson def. Jared Gordon via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:11 of round three
Gordon looks very sharp on the feet to start the fight, as he begins to piece Dawson up with leg kicks early on. He then begins to throw his hands and has success with that as well.
Dawson shoots on some takedown attempts, which are stuffed, and his striking isn’t quite up to par with Gordon’s.
However, midway through the first round Dawson is able to take Gordon down and immediately takes his back. He spends the second half of the first with a body triangle around Gordon’s abdomen.
Dawson is able to do the same to start the second, though Gordon is able to get out of it and use his striking throughout the round.
Gordon starts to really press to pace in the third; it’s weird, Dawson doesn’t seem to be able to exhaust his opponents at 155 lbs like he could at 145 lbs. Gordon’s boxing is working well for him, as he’s landing a number of beautiful combinations, but Dawson is either throwing back, or shooting on takedowns with great timing.
Dawson appears to be fading, just as he did in his last fight, as Gordon begins to take over. He is likely down two rounds, but this is very impressive to see.
Just as we’re thinking Dawson is slowing down though, he jumps on Gordon’s back again and this time already has his arm under the neck, as he secures the rear naked choke finish.
Grant Dawson is now 2-0-1 at lightweight, both victories coming via late third round finish.
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