Grant Dawson vs. Chas Skelly on tap for UFC event on Jan. 18

The UFC’s Jan. 18 event is starting to take shape.

A featherweight bout between Grant Dawson (14-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and Chas Skelly (18-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) has been booked. Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the booking, but asked to remain anonymous as the bout has yet to be officially announced.

The featherweight tilt joins a lightweight clash between Nasrat Haqparast and Drew Dober as the only other known fights on tap for the Jan. 18 lineup.

Recently, UFC president Dana White said the card likely will take place in Las Vegas and could be headlined by former UFC champion Conor McGregor.

Dawson made his promotional debut in March 2019 after a USADA case stemming back to his contract-earning performance on Dana White’s Contender Series was dismissed.

Fourteen months after DWCS, Dawson made his long-awaited promotional debut in March. After he defeated Julian Erosa by unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN+ 4, Dawson made it two straight wins when he submitted Mike Trizano by second-round rear-naked choke in May.

As for Skelly, the Texas-based fighter snapped a two-fight losing streak at UFC on ESPN+ 16 in September, when he defeated Jordan Griffin by unanimous decision.

Dawson and Skelly hold a combined 13 submissions and five TKO’s between them.