Grant Dawson makes no excuses for weight miss, but vows to stay at featherweight

NORFOLK, Va. – Grant Dawson beat Darrick Minner with a second-round submission Saturday to open up the main card at UFC on ESPN+ 27 in Norfolk, Va.

Take a look inside the fight with Dawson, who ran his winning streak to six fights – five of which have been stoppages.

Result: Grant Dawson def. Darrick Minner via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:38
Updated records: Dawson (15-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), Minner (24-11 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Key stat: Dawson has 11 of his 15 pro wins by submission, many of which have come by rear-naked choke, which is what he finished Minner with.

Dawson on the fight’s key moment

“It was weird, I thought he would come out and start swinging right off the gate, but he stepped back and took his time, so I knew I could pressure. I can move forward. Once he started getting after it, we started grappling and I knew what to do.”

Dawson on being prepared for Minner’s choke attempts

“There’s always things I can take away from a fight to get better, but I think that was a pretty flawless performance. He got me in a guillotine real quick and I felt that squeeze, but I’m not a quitter and I got out of there. I’m in those chokes all the time. My gym is a guillotine gym. It was tight, but not nearly as tight as what I usually deal with.”

Dawson on what he wants next

“There’s no performance that I could have that could make up for missing weight like I did. There’s no excuse there. I will be back, I will be at (1)45, and I will make weight next time. It’s in the past. There’s no excuse. I felt like I got a lot better in this camp. I have the best training partners and we’re all advancing so much. I want to get back in there and really show off what I can do.”

To hear more from Dawson, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.