While one fighter was moving down at UFC Vegas 22 (Roman Dolidze), another was moving on up. Grant Dawson had put the featherweight division behind him after missing weight at UFC Norfolk last year. After a 150lb catchweight in his last outing, Dawson was fully a lightweight on Saturday, taking on Brazil’s Leonardo Santos.
Despite the weight issues, Dawson had yet to taste defeat in his UFC run. That success continued on Saturday.
Santos opened up with a heavy leg kick. Dawson shot for a takedown, but Santos stuffed it. Dawson threw two wild overhand right hands and missed them both. Nearly two minutes into the round, Dawson’s overhand right landed and rocked Santos. Dawson took down Santos, but the Brazilan popped back up. Dawson held Santos against the fence for about a minute, and then Santos landed a judo throw and landed on top. The Brazilian couldn’t hold down Dawnson and was put against the fence for the rest of the round. Dawson had a cut behind his ear by the end of the frame.
Both fighters exchanged leg kicks to start round two. Dawson threw three overhand rights within a span of a minute, and only one partially landed. A kick to Dawnson’s groin halted the action at 3:25. As the action started again, Dawson landed a body kick, and Santos landed a calf kick. A knee landed from Santos, but Dawson ate it and drove Santos to the fence. After little action followed, the referee took them back to center. Santos grabbed Dawson’s back, but nothing came of it. Dawson ended the round with a roundhouse kick. Interesting round.
A spinning elbow barely missed for Dawson to open round three. Dawson shot for a takedown, but Santos stuffed it. Two minutes into the round and Dawson held Santos against the fence. It was still anyone’s fight. Dawson finally landed the takedown he was waiting for and moved to half guard. Dawson landed a little bit of ground and pound with less than two minutes remaining in the fight. With one minute left, Dawson finally landed some punches that landed hard. With less than 10 seconds left, Dawson landed heavy ground and pound and knocked Santos out. Wow! A real buzzer-beater, with one second remaining.
WHAT!? DAWSON WITH ONE SECOND REMAINING 😳 #UFCVegas22 pic.twitter.com/WzA9MVhIKx
— UFC (@ufc) March 21, 2021
Official Result: Grant Dawson def. Leonardo Santos by Knockout, Round 3, 4:59
