Manuel Torres is known for the power he could bring out in a flash, and that’s what happened in his victory over Grant Dawson in the featured UFC 323 prelim bout.
Dawson came out with strong kicks to start, as well as aggressively looking for a takedown. Torres fended those efforts off, however, and worked Dawson’s body over.
Dawson overextended on one of his punches, and Torres made him pay with a counter that dropped him to the mat, bringing the fight to a halt quickly.
While “Iron” has scored memorable knockouts of Dan Hooker and Tony Ferguson, he’s tasted defeat twice as much as he has victory in the UFC, falling to Charles Oliveira twice in addition to Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.
Despite the state of his Octagon record, however, Chandler remains highly ranked at #7. During a recent interview with Inside Fighting, the unranked Grant Dawson gave his assessment of that, calling for the veteran to be booted from the top 15.
“There are people who do not belong in the top 15 let alone the top 10,” Dawson said. “If you like at somebody like Michael Chandler, he’s 2-4 in the UFC. You put his record up against my record, 11-1 in the UFC, assuming I beat Diego (Ferreira). 11-1 in the UFC compared to 2-4 in the UFC, and you say, ‘Yeah, the 11-1 guy (is) not ranked. The 2-4 guy ranked in the top 10, top seven.’ It doesn’t make any sense.
“You’ve got these guys, they’re not looking to fight the up-and-comers,” Dawson continued. “They need to take Michael Chandler out of there.”
After going unbeaten across his first nine UFC fights and defeating the highly regarded Damir Ismagulov, Dawson broke through into the lightweight rankings. But a shock 33-second knockout loss to King Green quickly changed that.
The American Top Team standout has since been looking to work his way back up the ladder. Thus far, that’s seen him outpoint Joe Solecki and stop Rafa Garcia via TKO in back-to-back contests.
He’ll next look to make it three wins on the bounce when he collides with lightweight vet Diego Ferreira at UFC 311 in Los Angeles on Jan. 18.
A hunch or a leak? Dustin Poirier’s teammate appeared confident when predicting a month and opponent for his farewell fight in the UFC.
It initially appeared as though fans had seen Poirier make the walk for the final time this past summer. After a vintage knockout of Benoît Saint Denis in March, the former interim UFC lightweight champion had one last opportunity to achieve undisputed status.
But while he gave it his all through four rounds against Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 in Newark, “The Diamond” succumbed to a rear-naked choke in the final frame of the pay-per-view main event.
The veteran’s Octagon interview suggested that an official retirement was on the way, but the fire beneath Poirier has not fully diminished. And after pondering a farewell fight, the Louisianan has appeared to make that decision final.
A man who knows Poirier well from their ongoing stint as teammates over at American Top Team recently picked one out…
Dawson Predicts Poirier vs. Gaethje 3 In February 2025
During a recent interview with MMA News’ Ryan Jarrell, Dawson spoke on the current status of Poirier’s career and apparent plans to compete one final time before hanging up the gloves.
While reiterating his belief that “The Diamond” is not yet done, “KGD” predicted a February 2025 return for his ATT training partner but insisted that didn’t come from a place of insider knowledge.
“I think he’ll fight in February. I don’t have any insider information,” Dawson told MMA News. “I don’t know anything. There’s no (set) date or anything like that. I just don’t think he’s done. I’ve texted him a couple times and he sounds like a man who wants to fight again.”
But when pondering a date for his own next appearance inside the Octagon, the same month reared its head…
“Let’s do February, on Dustin’s card.”
In terms of an opponent, Dawson was 100 percent certain in stating that a rumored clash with former ATT standout Colby Covington is not on the table. Instead, the 30-year-old displayed a grin while producing a different name.
“I know for a fact he’s not fighting Colby Covington. I called him and asked him about it, and he said, ‘Heck no.’ He said something a little worse than ‘heck,’” Dawson said, before smiling and taking a long pause when asked who he thinks Poirier will face. “Justin Gaethje.”
Shot-in-the-dark prediction, educated guess or a statement of fact? We’ll let you decide.
Regardless, it would appear that Poirier’s mind is indeed made up and that his memorable championship clash with Makhachev won’t mark the final chapter in his story.
I will.
Once more into the fray, into the last good fight I’ll ever know. Live and die on this day, live and die on this day https://t.co/N9H3j2OR5p
In the main attraction, American fan favorite Dustin Poirier hoped to finish his story by checking the final box in his career. Standing in his way of an undisputed lightweight title crowning at the third time of trying, however, was a formidable force in Islam Makhachev.
The Dagestani champion left the crowd disappointed by submitting Poirier in the fifth round of a memorable headliner. In doing so, he tied his mentor, the great Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Benson Henderson for title defenses by notching his third at UFC 302.
The Number One P4P continues his reign 🏆@MAKHACHEVMMA defeats Dustin Poirier by submission to REMAIN the lightweight champion of the world!
All eyes were also on the co-headliner, as former middleweight titleholder Sean Strickland competed for the first time since being unseated from the throne by the barest of margins this past January in Toronto. After being denied an immediate rematch with Dricus Du Plessis, “Tarzan” staked his claim for a title shot by stalling the ambitions of Paulo Costa in a lackluster five-round affair.
Before those matchups, the likes of Kevin Holland, Niko Price, Randy Brown, Roman Kopylov, Jailton Almeida, and Bassil Hafez all had their hands raised.
With the event concluded, check out the full results below, followed by some of the highlights!
UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier Results & Highlights
Main Card:
Lightweight Championship Main Event: Islam Makhachev def. Dustin Poirier via submission (D’arce choke): R5, 2:42
Middleweight Co-Main Event: Sean Strickland def. Paulo Costa via split decision (50-45, 46-49, 49-46)
Middleweight: Kevin Holland def. Michał Oleksiejczuk via submission (armbar): R1, 1:34
Welterweight: Niko Price def. Alex Morono via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Welterweight: Randy Brown def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card:
Middleweight: Roman Kopylov def. César Almeida via unanimous decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Heavyweight: Jailton Almeida def. Alexandr Romanov via submission (rear-naked choke): R1, 2:27
Lightweight: Grant Dawson def. Joe Solecki via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Welterweight: Jake Matthews def. Phil Rowe via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Early Preliminary Card:
Welterweight: Bassil Hafez def. Mickey Gall via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
UFC 302 didn’t appeal to some MMA fans, even on paper. And things did not get better when Grant Dawson took on Joe Solecki during the preliminary card.
Dawson, known for his grappling, not only scored on all three of his takedown attempts for the fight, but he also had just under 14 minutes of control time during the 15-minute contest – without landing much damage from top position.
Solecki may have taken the first round with more effective activity going for a guillotine choke, but it wasn’t enough to get past Dawson’s unrelenting pressure. Dawson scored 30-27s on two judges’ scorecards and 29-28 on the third.
MMA Community Rips On One-Sided, Grappling-Heavy Victory For Grant Dawson Over Joe Solecki At UFC 302
This is something that Renato Moicano highlighted during his recent preview of the card on his YouTube channel.
One of Moicano’s fellow fighters out of American Top Team is set to be in action in a fight that he believes is a certain pick in favor of his teammate.
Renato Moicano Highlights Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki, Praises Dawson As Top-Tier Grappler
Up to that point, he was putting together a serious run in the lightweight division and now faces Joe Solecki in an attempt to regain that momentum.
Solecki, who is coming off of a loss to Drakkar Klose, is known for his jiu-jitsu skills but Moicano doesn’t believe that he will be effective with them on this occasion.
“Money” said that Dawson is one of the very best grapplers in the UFC right now so even if the fight hits the floor, he will be able to get back to his feet in no time.
“I’m not seeing him losing, I think he is the lock of the card. Especially because Joe Solecki is a BJJ guy, he’s a grappler, I don’t think he’s a better wrestler than Grant Dawson. I think he’s a jiu-jitsu guy that will try takedowns, will fail on the takedowns, will pull guard or even if he does take Grant Dawson down, he will not be able to control Grant Dawson on the ground because Grant Dawson is one of the best grapplers in the UFC.
“Maybe you cannot believe in me but I’m telling you, he is one of the best grapplers on the division. I saw him training against Arman Tsarukyan, I saw him train against Mateusz Gamrot, I train with him myself, so he’s very hard to control, very good grappler.”
