Dawson, Green headline next Fight Night

Grant Dawson and Bobby Green will step into the limelight as they headline the next UFC Fight Night with a lightweight match at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas, set for Sunday morning.

Dawson (20-1-1) has been in exceptional form, racking up a three-match winning streak (and a run of 12 unbeaten fights) with victories over Jared Gordon, Mark Madsen and Damir Ismagulov in the past 18 months.

The 29-year-old ‘KGD’ is determined to become a UFC champion, but is prepared to put in the work before he puts his name forward for a title shot.

“I don't know about a timeframe on becoming champion. I will say, it's gonna happen within next three or four years,” said Dawson.

“My strength is my obsession for this game. I absolutely love this game. All I want to do is be a good MMA fighter. So I am super-excited for this test and super-excited to show that I can overcome these type of obstacles.”

Green (30-14-1, 1 NC) is a grizzled veteran in the UFC but comes into this clash off a headline-grabbing submission victory over Tony Ferguson back in July (ending a run of three winless matches).

The 36-year-old ‘King’ brushed off accusations that his win over Ferguson was down to an eye poke, insisting that he is simply looking forward to the next challenge.

“I don’t need to cheat no guys,” he explained. “My skills pay the bills. Trust me, I rely on skills, I don’t rely on athletics, or I don’t rely on this and that – the skills in this, a lot of things that you guys don’t understand is happening. And so I feel bad, because I did do the eye poke – I felt bad that it happened.”

The rest of the main card sees Joe Pyfer take on Abdul Razak Alhassan in a middleweight clash; a welterweight bout pits Alex Morono against Joaquin Buckley; Drew Dober faces fellow lightweight Ricky Glen; Philipe Lins takes on Ion Cutelaba in the light heavyweight division; and a featherweight opener pits Alex Hernandez against Bill Algeo.