Another fight, another tough prospect for Grant Dawson.
Dawson (24-3-1 MMA, 12-2-1 UFC) meets undefeated lightweight Nurullo Aliev (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on Oct. 24 at UFC 333 from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi (Paramount+).
Despite his impressive record in the octagon, and most recently submitting Mateusz Rebecki at UFC 328
, Dawson has struggled to land marquee names in the UFC. Instead he draws another undefeated fighter in Aliev."This kid's good, and he's young," Dawson told MMA Junkie Radio of Aliev. "He's very, very talented, and to be honest with you, I'm glad that I'm getting him now and not three years from now when he's gotten a lot better. There will be a Saturday where he's a better fighter than I am. I just don't think it's going to be the
Saturday that we fight. I do think that a big win over him, I think he'll go on to have a very, very good UFC career, so that just makes me look a lot better."
Aliev has used his wrestling to control fights, but Dawson is confident that he will test him like never before.
"Joe Solecki has good jiu-jitsu, but I remember grappling with Joe and just how easy the takedowns were," Dawson said. "And Joe got on top of him towards the end of the round. Now, he was up 2-0. Maybe he was just like, 'Look, I'm just going to play it safe, there's only a couple minutes left, but I do think there are some holes if he does get taken down.
"I'm sure he's working on them. I'm sure he's improving every single day. But I really feel like when we get in there, he's going to be surprised at how good I can also wrestle. Also, this isn't the first undefeated guy I've fought. If you count undefeated in the UFC, this will be my fourth, and I'm undefeated against undefeated guys. So, you know, maybe that plays something into it, too."
Dawson is aware that their grappling could cancel out, and they end up throwing hands.
"I've got a Plan A and Plan B," Dawson said. "If Plan A doesn't work, is to bite down on my mouthpiece and see who's tougher. But so far Plan A has worked almost every time. This is a very interesting matchup because I do think it's the first time I fought somebody that is going to be trying to take me down as much as I'm trying to take him down. So, being a little less aggressive in the opening round is going to be important. But for the most part, I think game plans are important. I think that they work, but at the end of the day, this is fighting, and I just have to be ready for everything."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Grant Dawson: Time will come when Nurullo Aliev is better than me – but not at UFC 333
