Grant Dawson reveals he nearly pulled out of Mark Madsen fight, says he plans to fight Tony Ferguson and Dan Hooker in 2023

Grant Dawson is quite happy with his third-round submission win over Mark Madsen – especially with everything he overcame.

Dawson took the fight on short notice as he knew it was a fight that would likely get him in the rankings. Yet, on weigh-in day, Dawson came in heavy which he isn’t making excuses for. Instead, he turned his attention to the fight and put on a great performance.

“I’m ecstatic about the performance,” Dawson said to BJPENN.com. “A lot of people don’t know but there was a lot of stuff I went through two weeks before the fight, and there was a lot of stuff I went through the day before the fight and fight day. Just a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff and to be able to rally behind that and still put on a great performance shows me I’m one of the best in the world. Especially doing it against Mark who is an Olympic silver medalist.”

According to Dawson, he says he nearly pulled out on three separate occasions but ultimately decided to take the fight. Dawson got dropped in the early moments of the contest but was able to recover and take over the scrap.

With Dawson overcoming getting dropped for the first time, and everything he went through before the fight, he says this win means a lot for him.

“Yes. In my head, we nearly pulled out three times. We rallied past it and we did what we said we were going to do,” Dawson said. “It’s in the past, it doesn’t matter now, I showed my toughness… To me, this win means a lot more to me because of what I went through the 48 hours before the fight.”

After the win, Grant Dawson called out Tony Ferguson, which is a callout not many fans liked. 

According to Dawson, he doesn’t understand why fans don’t like the fight as he thinks it’s the perfect fight for him.

“I’m thinking end of March, early April is when I want to return and I want to fight Tony Ferguson… It’s the only fight that makes sense and I’m getting a lot of heat online for the callout and I don’t understand it,” Dawson said. “He’s ranked above me, I’m 15, he’s 14. He’s a former world champion and everybody he lost to his last five has all fought for the belt. I don’t understand why people think it doesn’t make sense when he is ranked above me.

“If it doesn’t make sense, he shouldn’t be ranked,” Dawson continued. “Hopefully, the UFC will put it on because I am also the perfect style for Tony. I’m not going to flatline him or hurt his brain anymore. I’m not a Justin Gaethje or Michael Chandler who will put more damage on him. My plan is to just wrestle him and beat him up on the ground.”

Not only does Grant Dawson have his eyes set on Tony Ferguson, but he also has his entire 2023 mapped out.

“Ideal 2023 is Ferguson in March, then Dan Hooker, then Diego Ferreira at the end of the year. That’s the three I fight this year,” Dawson concluded.”

Would you like to see Grant Dawson vs. Tony Ferguson next?