Beating the likes of Alvarez, Moises, and Kutateladze is not easy – they’re a combined 11-7 in the UFC, with Ismagulov accounting for three of those setbacks, Alvarez himself doling out one to Moises, and the others coming courtesy of Tsarukyan, Beneil Dariush, and Islam Makhachev – and Ismagulov swept the scorecards against the first two before edging out Kutateladze just over a year ago.
He’s one of the more complete, technically proficient fighters in the 155-pound weight class, which is why hearing him speak about leveling up his game and getting to a point where training now gives him confidence is an exciting turn of events for fans, and a point of concern for pending opponents, including Dawson.
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“This fight will show how I can compete with high-level wrestlers, because higher in the rankings everyone is very well rounded; they can strike and wrestle,” he said when asked about a quote from a previous Instagram post citing this matchup as a chance to prove what he do against wrestlers when he is 100 percent. “This fight will mainly show how I match up with someone who will try to take me to the ground at all costs.”
During the course of his eight-fight run in the UFC, getting the fight to the canvas has been Dawson’s chief objective and, to date, he’s been largely successful in making that happen.
A graduate from the first season of Dana White’s Contender Series, Dawson has gone unbeaten to begin his UFC run, moving to the lightweight ranks four fights ago after beginning his career at featherweight. He’s registered three victories, all by way of stoppage, and a draw since shifting to the 155-pound weight class, most recently having submitted Mark O. Madsen in November to bounce the Danish Olympian from the ranks of the unbeaten.
