Las Vegas, NV – Technically UFC lightweight Grant Dawson is a short-notice opponent for Mark Madsen at UFC Vegas 64 this Saturday night, but not really.
“This isn’t short notice. I was scheduled to fight on November 5th about 10 weeks ago so I’ve been in camp for 8 weeks. I went through six different opponents, and it really looked like I wasn’t going to get to fight. Drakkar (Klose) backing out it just kind of all fell together really good,” Dawson told the media on Wednesday.
“I’ve watched Mark for a long time. I knew the opponent, I like the matchup, and it all came into place. He’s got just as much time to prepare for me as I had to prepare for him.”
Dawson (18-1-1) had six different opponent changes which made things very difficult when it came to creating a game plan during camp.
“Man it was awful. It was awful. Everybody that they offered me were complete polar opposites of each other. The nice thing was the last guy before Mark that I thought I was fighting was a very good wrestler so I was getting ready for that kind of style. He’s more of a folk-style wrestler Mark’s a greco-style wrestler. So it is different, but at least I was in the grappling department and everything,” Dawson said.
“I’m in shape. I’m ready to go. I’ve had a full camp. If he wins it’s not because of a bad camp or a bad cut. This is going to be just like normal.”
The opponent is not new for Dawson who fully expected to have to face Madsen sooner or later.
“I’ve watched him fight for a long time. I watched from his debut on. I’m a fan of the sport man. I was watching him when I was still a 145er. Not so much because I thought I was going to fight him any day, but just because I love the sport. I knew exactly who he was as soon as they said his name. It’s definitely a tough fight, super super difficult fight, but I think the winner of this fight gets ranked,” he said.
“So that’s what I’m looking for.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Grant Dawson above. He takes on Mark Madsen at UFC Vegas 64 on Saturday night.
