Grant Dawson capped a turbulent week with a cathartic victory at UFC 328, submitting Mateusz Rebecki by second-round rear-naked choke on the prelims at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
The win pushes Dawson to four victories in his past five fights and marks a rebound from his upset first-round knockout loss to Manuel Torres in December. All three of Dawson's career defeats have come by first-round knockout, with two occurring in around 30 seconds.
Outside the cage, Dawson revealed he and his wife endured a devastating personal loss during fight week. "My wife and I were expecting our first baby, and we found out on Monday that we lost the baby. So it's been a rough week, and my amazing wife soldiered through it, toughed it out, no emotion, got me through this, and I promised her a little vacation for us to go and do our thing."
Dawson said he compartmentalized the emotions to compete. "It was compartmentalized. (I) put it away. We told our closest friends and family, and it was like I'll deal with this after."
He also expressed admiration for veteran Jim Miller, who submitted Jared Gordon for a $100,000 bonus on the same card. "So I was a bit emotional in the cage. I think that might have had something to do with it. And you know, Jim Miller, such a warrior. I cannot physically imagine what going through what he did with his son. I can't imagine that. So just all love for him."
Looking ahead, Dawson said he plans to return "(I'll come back at the) end of the year," and added, "My wife and I, we need a vacation."
