Grant Dawson controlled Damir Ismagulov on the mat for the vast majority of their fight tonight at UFC On ESPN 48 to secure a convincing win on the scorecards.
Round One:
Dawson feeling out with left hooks here in the early going. He tries for a takedown, but Ismagulov stuffs it nicely.
Dawson back to trying to land the looping left hook. He does land a right hook. Dawson working a takedown and Ismagulov defends at first, but Dawson adjusts and does secure the takedown.
Dawson progressing nicely here to take the back and is now trying for a rear-naked choke. Ismagulov defending for now as Dawson secures the body triangle tightly.
Dawson with a couple of elbows to the head from here as he looks to soften up his opponent. Dawson gradually trying to work for the choke, but not able to get past Ismagulov’s defense for now.
Ismagulov scrambling, but Dawson doing well to maintain his back control and is now blasting away with ground-and-pound. Final seconds of the round now with Dawson trying to find the rear-naked choke again.
Round Two:
Ismagulov looking to get busy with his boxing in the early stages of the second round. He lands a one-two. Now a nice jab. Solid right hand too.
Dawson gets into close range though, clinches up and hoists Ismagulov up, walks him away from the cage and puts him down to the canvas.
Ismagulov making life difficult for Dawson here but he adjusts his position to take his back nicely. Dawson rolling to his back and works in the body triangle again as he did in the second round.
Ismagulov rolling onto his knees, but Dawson is still latched on tightly and rolls to his back again working for the rear-naked choke, but can’t quite get it under the chin. Ismagulov defends and makes it to the end of the round.
Round Three:
Ismagulov looking to pressure and fires out a couple of kicks without landing. Dawson punches into another takedown attempt and lands it well, then takes his back straight away with the body triangle locked in.
Unusually Nelson works for a full-nelson. He gives up on that and looks for punches to try to find an opening for the choke.
Not too much happening here with Dawson in control, but Ismagulov’s defense being good enough to prevent him from getting an opening for the submission.
Final few seconds and Ismagulov manages to turn into Dawson to get on top at last, but it’s too little too late as the round comes to an end.
Decision:
Complete domination on the mat from Dawson here then on his way to a unanimous decision victory (30-26, 30-27 x2).
