Phoenix, AZ — Drew Dober loves to fight in front of a crowd, and when you add another striker like Brad Riddell in front of him- it should be ‘Fight of the Night.’
Dober is coming off a submission loss against Islam Makhachev at UFC 259 in March. The loss snapped his three-fight win streak. He spoke about that defeat at UFC 263 media day on Wednesday.
“It was great to feel the Dagestani wrestler system, and feel one of the best in the world, and just understanding what that’s like,” Dober said.
“It was unfortunate that the fight was not as exciting as I wanted it to be. He kind of took me down and held me down significantly. But I felt it; I know what that’s like, I know what to prepare for, and we’ve been working diligently at Team Elevation to solve that problem for the next time.”
The UFC paired him against Riddell, who had an extensive kickboxing career. Dober shared his excitement about the match-up.
“I’ve been following Brad because people on social media kept mentioning his name,” Dober admitted. After hearing call after call of “you need to fight this guy,” the lightweight finally landed the bout.
“I kept my eyes open and watched him, and he is fantastic. So, as soon as that match up came across, like yeah, a beautiful, striking match up, in front of a crowd, I want this. So, we made it happen,” said Dober.
Watch the full UFC 263 media day scrum with Drew Dober above. The event takes place this Saturday, June 12, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The main card airs live on PPV.
