Make the lightweight rankings make sense. That’s all division standout Grant Dawson is asking for.
After putting together an impressive run inside the Octagon over the last five years, Dawson will look to notch his 11th UFC win and 23rd overall when he squares off with Diego Ferreira at UFC 311 on January 18.
Unfortunately, the victory will likely do little in the way of getting him into the lightweight top 15. Meanwhile, former Bellator champion Michael Chandler is still holding strong as No. 7 despite a lowly 2-4 record under the promotional banner.
“There are people who do not belong in the top 15 let alone the top 10,” Dawson said during a recent interview with Inside Fighting. “If you look 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.
“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 ten, top seven.’ It doesn’t make any sense” (h/t Bloody Elbow).
Dawson added, “You’ve got these guys, they’re not looking to fight the up-and-comers. They need to take Michael Chandler out of there.”
Michael Chandler has only beaten lightweight stars dan hooker and ‘el cucuy’ inside the octagon
Chandler made his UFC debut with an impressive first-round knockout of Dan Hooker UFC 257. Since then, he’s only one won fight which came against Tony Ferguson in May 2022. Before returning to the Octagon for a rematch with ‘Do Bronx’ at UFC 309, Chandler sat on the sidelines while waiting to cash in on a clash with Conor McGregor.
The two were scheduled to scrap in June, but McGregor bowed out of the bout after breaking his pinky toe. Instead of choosing to continue to wait around for the Irishman, Chandler accepted a rematch with Oliveira. ‘Iron’ lost the fight via a decisive unanimous decision.
