Grant Dawson isn’t seeking a rematch, but is looking to get over his loss to Bobby Green by beating the man who recently beat “The King.”
Dawson bounced back from a knockout loss to Green with a dominant unanimous decision win over Joe Solecki on Saturday at UFC 302. Afterwards, Dawson mentioned Jalin Turner, who knocked out Green in December 2023.
“I want to fight Jalin Turner because I want to get back into the top 15 by the end of the year,” Dawson told media after the fight. “Jalin Turner doesn’t want to fight me, especially after a performance like that… He beat the guy who beat me, and an easy way to forget about Bobby without actually having to fight him again is to beat the guy who beat him.”
Dawson was a heavy favorite entering his first career UFC main event against Green in October 2023. Green knocked out Dawson in 33 seconds at UFC Fight Night 229, handing “KGD” his first career UFC defeat. Dawson believes he should have beaten Green, just like he did against Solecki on Saturday night. But instead of making excuses for the loss, Dawson admits that Green outfoxed him by inches.
“I feel like I could have done the same thing with Bobby,” Dawson said. “Everybody asks me, ‘Was it pressure? Was Bobby haunting you?’ And none of that is true. I wish I could say I cut weight wrong going into that fight. I wish I could say I knew something going into that fight… I read it, he read it. He read it right, I read it wrong. It’s a game of inches, so I just wanted to come out here and stay as sharp as I could and take the easiest fight.”
Dawson currently has a 9-1-1 record at UFC, including five finishes, while Turner is 1-3 in his last four fights and is coming off a TKO loss to Renato Carneiro at UFC 300 in April, while Green is scheduled to face Paddy Pimblett on July 27 at UFC 304 in Manchester.
