Grant Dawson hovers somewhere outside the Top 15 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division, searching for platforms from which to launch himself into a higher competitive tax bracket.
The 30-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series graduate will toe the line against former Combate Global champion Rafa Garcia in a UFC Fight Night 244 lightweight showcase this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Dawson enters the Octagon having won four of his past five bouts, a 33-second knockout loss to Bobby Green his only misstep.