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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs Green
Get Ready For UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs Green By Taking A Closer Look At Every Fight On The Card
By E. Spencer Kyte, on X @spencerkyte
The final quarter of the 2023 UFC schedule begins on Saturday night at the UFC APEX, as a dozen sets of competitors make the walk to the Octagon with designs on securing victory and setting themselves up for greater opportunities once the new year begins.
Headlined by a compelling lightweight matchup between Grant Dawson and Bobby Green with a collection of competitive bouts and intriguing names proliferating the rest of the lineup, this weekend’s initial October offering has the makings of an affair that produces plenty of highlights and loads to discuss when the dust settles.
Let’s dive into this week’s matchups!
Main Event: Grant Dawson vs Bobby Green
Grant Dawson makes his first UFC main event appearance this weekend, sharing the Octagon with ultra-competitive veteran Bobby Green in Saturday’s finale.
A highly regarded prospect during his days on the regional circuit, Dawson has lived up to the hype and then some since touching down in the UFC after earning a contract on Season 1, Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series. The 29-year-old American Top Team representative has gone 8-0-1 in nine starts, winning each of his last three outings as he continued to climb the divisional ranks.
Green has been a fixture in the division for the last 11 years, transferring from Strikeforce and remaining a perennial tough out for more than a decade. While there have been stretches where the results haven’t always been favorable, the 37-year-old is incapable of being in a boring fight and has long been recognized as one of the top veteran tests an ascending talent like Dawson could face in order to further establish their bona fides.
This contest has the potential to answer some of the lingering questions that hover around Dawson as he looks to keep pushing forward at lightweight. Green is an excellent wrestler with sharp, quick hands, so it’ll be interesting to see how successful Dawson will be with his grappling and how he’s able to navigate his first main event if he runs into issues executing Plan A. On the flip side, “King” looked excellent last time out against Tony Ferguson and very good in his clash with Jared Gordon before it was halted by an accidental clash of heads, so this weekend’s headlining pairing with the ascending lightweight should help clarify whether the veteran is making a late push towards the rankings or simply continuing to show his class and gameness.
No matter how this plays out, it should be a wildly entertaining and informative way to wrap up the evening.
Other Main Card Fights
Joe Pyfer vs Abdul Razak Alhassan
Middleweights occupy the co-main event slot this week, with DWCS alum Joe Pyfer facing off against Abdul Razak Alhassan.
Pyfer left Dana White both fired up and fuming after this victory on the opening episode last season, and since then, “Bodybagz” has added consecutive stoppage wins over Alen Amedovski and Gerald Meerschaert to his resume. The 27-year-old carries a bunch of power in his hands and has a quality set of grappling skills tucked away in case of emergency, while profiling as someone to keep close tabs on in the 185-pound weight class.
The 38-year-old Alhassan is 2-2 since moving to middleweight and enters Saturday’s penultimate matchup off a second-round knockout win over Claudio Ribeiro on the opening card of the year. He’s always packed a ton of power in his strikes and has shown improved cardio and patience since connecting with the Elevation Fight Team, which makes him a good test for Pyfer at this junction.
Each of these men prefer to step into the fire and sling hands, so there is a very real possibility that this one ends early and in spectacular fashion.
Alex Morono vs Joaquin Buckley
Alex Morono and Joaquin Buckley meet in a main card pairing of welterweights residing in the Second 15 in the 170-pound ranks.
A sound technician with good hands and a deft jiu-jitsu game, Morono has long been one of the more underrated veteran talents in the division. Sporting an 8-3 record over the last five years, Texas’ “Great White” returns to the APEX looking to build off his second-round submission win over Tim Means in May.
Buckley made his first nine UFC appearances at middleweight, but consecutive losses to Nassourdine Imavov and Chris Curtis prompted “New Mansa” to relocate. The explosive 29-year-old collected a stoppage win over Andre Fialho in his return to welterweight in May, and has the kind of sudden, dynamic power to be a dangerous addition to the division.
Which of these two will garner a second consecutive victory and make a push for a Top 15 pairing and which one will be forced to head towards Halloween coming off a loss?
Drew Dober vs Ricky Glenn
Drew Dober and Ricky Glenn are two Midwest guys that really enjoy getting into a fist fight, and on Saturday night, they do it with each other.
Dober has been smiling and looking maddeningly handsome while slinging hands inside the Octagon for more than a decade, taking up residency on the fringes of the Top 15 for the last several years. He actively seeks out fights that he feels will not be boring and has a style that is conducive to that approach, constantly wading into back-and-forth battles with dangerous men in the 155-pound weight class.
Glenn made a name for himself as an entertaining action fighter outside of the UFC and has lived up to that reputation since debuting in the promotion in the fall of 2016. His last three fights feel like a perfect representation of who he is as a fighter, as he knocked out Joaquim Silva swiftly three fights back, battled headliner Grant Dawson to a draw two fights ago, and got finished by Christos Giagos in 95 seconds last time out.
This will be a buffet of punches and kicks, so grab a plate and get your fill!
Philipe Lins vs Ion Cutelaba
Philipe Lins and Ion Cutelaba go head-to-head in a meeting of intriguing light heavyweights on Saturday’s main card.
The 38-year-old Lins is 3-0 since moving to the 205-pound weight class, having earned consecutive victories over Marcin Prachnio, Ovince Saint Preux, and Maxim Grishin. He was clearly miscast as a heavyweight, and now profiles as a curious, streaking veteran in a division where a four-fight winning streak can land you a date with a ranked opponent.
Cutelaba is 6-8-1 in the UFC and yet every time he steps into the Octagon, there are moments when you wonder if he’s on the brink of turning the corner and becoming a contender. The 29-year-old “Hulk” has strength and power to spare, and fights with a reckless abandon that creates chaos, excitement, and plenty of finishes, just sometimes he’s the one getting stopped.
On paper, this looks like a battle between a veteran that wants to be patient and find his spots and a wild man aiming to crowd him before the fight even officially begins, and it should be gripping theater watching to see whose approach wins out this weekend.
Alexander Hernandez vs Bill Algeo
Alexander Hernandez returns to featherweight to take on veteran Bill Algeo in this weekend’s main card opener.
An extended run of “win one, lose one” results prompted Hernandez to drop down to featherweight two fights ago, but after a quick start, he faded and was finished by Billy Quarantillo in the second round. A short notice victory over Jim Miller back at lightweight followed, but now the 30-year-old “Great Ape” drops back down to the 145-pound ranks looking to secure his first featherweight victory.
This might sound weird, but Algeo has continued being the crafty, competitive stalwart he was on the East Coast regional circuit since graduating to the UFC roster. He was a tough out before and he’s a tough out now, carrying a 4-2 record over his last six fights into Saturday’s meeting with Hernandez.
If there were any remaining questions about Hernandez’ future in the division and upside as a competitor overall, they should be answered this weekend, because Algeo is the kind of savvy, skilled veteran that can exploit any weakness in his opponent’s game. Hernandez is the better athlete, but the better athlete doesn’t always emerge victorious inside the Octagon.
Preliminary Card Fights
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Diana Belbita
Strawweights close out the prelims as Karolina Kowalkiewicz takes on Diana Belbita.
Former title challenger Kowalkiewicz enters on a three-fight winning streak, having repackaged herself as a gritty grinder since shifting her training to American Top Team. Belbita collected a unanimous decision win over Maria Oliveira in the UFC 289 opener and is 2-1 since moving to the strawweight division.
Chris Gutiérrez vs Montel Jackson
Chris Gutierrez and Montel Jackson share the Octagon in a fascinating bantamweight preliminary card bout on Saturday.
Currently sitting at No. 15 in the rankings, Gutierrez looks to bounce back after his eight-fight unbeaten streak was snapped by Pedro Munhoz last time out. Jackson touches down in Las Vegas on a four-fight run of success, having most recently knocked out Rani Yahya in the first round back in April.
Aoriqileng vs Johnny Munoz
We stay at bantamweight for a “striker versus grappler” battle between Aoriqileng and Johnny Munoz.
The 30-year-old from China earned consecutive wins to start his bantamweight tenure but got knocked out in just 64 seconds last time out against Aiemann Zahabi. Munoz has alternated losses and wins since arriving in the UFC, and heads into this one angling to continue that trend after losing to Daniel Santos in June.
Vanessa Demopoulos vs Kanako Murata
Vanessa Demopoulos welcomes Kanako Murata back to action in this strawweight pairing.
“Lil’ Monster” lost to Kowalkiewicz last time out, which snapped her three-fight winning streak. The 12-2 Murata fights for the first time in more than two years after suffering a gruesome arm injury in her sophomore UFC appearance opposite Virna Jandiroba.
Nate Maness vs Mateus Mendonça
Nate Maness makes his second appearance at flyweight, while Mateus Mendonca makes his second appearance inside the Octagon this weekend at the APEX.
The game Kentucky native Maness won his first three UFC fights, but back-to-back outings against Umar Nurmagomedov and Tagir Ulanbekov sent him into this one on a two-fight skid. Mendonca debuted in January with a loss to Javid Basharat, and now moves down to the 125-pound ranks in search of his first UFC victory.
Montana De La Rosa vs JJ Aldrich
Flyweight mainstays Montana De La Rosa and JJ Aldrich open the show on Saturday.
The 28-year-old De La Rosa is 5-4-1 in 10 UFC appearances, with each of her setbacks coming against ranked opponents. Aldrich snapped a two-fight skid at the end of last month in Singapore and looks to build on that second-round stoppage win by making a quick turnaround here.
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