The former gym prop said all the recent drama at Glory MMA and Fitness has turned the team into the stuff of a reality show.
Grant Dawson hasn’t lost a fight since 2016, long before he made his way to the UFC in 2019. At the time, he was in Glory MMA, headed by James Krause near Kansas City, Mo. He has since moved to American Top Team in South Florida, but says he has nothing to do with the madness at Glory.
Gym and founder James Krause has been embroiled in one of the biggest controversies in MMA due to shady betting activity surrounding a fight between Shayilan Nuerdanbieke and Darrick Minner. Several government agencies, including the FBI, are investigating the UFC over fight reform concerns. At the center of it all is former fighter and trainer Krause, who trapped Miner during a first-round TKO loss to Nuerdanbieke that moved everything.
In the aftermath of the scandal, the UFC banned Krause from fighting and cornering, and he said anyone who continues to train in his gym can be considered outside the UFC as well. But Dawson said he walked out before the drama.
“If Glory MMA and Fitness was a TV show and we threw in all the stuff that was going on there, you could say, ‘Oh, the ratings should be going down and they’re just trying to make the show hot again,’” Dawson recently told MMA Junkie Radio, “because not all of it happened. Anyway, these things.” “This is the reality of life. Glory MMA and Fitness is kind of the new ‘Tiger King.’”
Dawson (19-1-1 MMA, 7-0-1 UFC) said he changed gyms after fighting to a majority draw with Ricky Glenn in October 2021 in a fight that was more of a 5-1 favorite.
“(The sports drama) has nothing to do with my movement,” Dawson said. “She had an intense fight with Leonardo Santos and I[had a post-fight bonus]. In my head I thought I needed to make a change. I knew in my heart of hearts that I needed to leave the gym and find a bigger gym and find a new pool to try and be a part of. But instead, I took the coward’s way out and bought a house for $50,000 (premium).
“Then I had a spot in the co-main event on a card against Ricky Glenn, who I was a -550 favorite against, and dropped the ball. I went to a draw with him, and it was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was the tag I needed. It was the thing that I needed him. So I decided to move on after that fight. After I left, things got kind of crazy—but it had nothing to do with me.”
Dawson said he remains friendly with Krause, despite the investigation, and believes it will have a positive outcome.
“I tell people all the time, ‘James has been nothing but a good person to me,'” Dawson said. “In my book, we’re solid. He’s a good guy. He’s always been good to me. He’s always been someone I considered a friend back in the day. We’re obviously not as close as we were, but he’s someone I really hope these things get figured out. I don’t know.” What’s going on; I’m just hearing things. But it looks like he’s about to find out and I think it’s going to be a good end.”
Dawson is set to face Damir Ismagulov on July 1 at the UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas. He hit back-to-back wins after tying Glenn.
“I think I’ll get another one just this year,” he said. “Idle since I joined the UFC has been a part of life now. I make a lot more money than I make outside of the UFC, so I can afford not to fight every couple of months. I definitely want to keep busy, but I just don’t see that happening.
“I think I’m going to beat Damir and I think I’m going to have one of the best performances of my career, and I don’t think it’s going to be easy to find a fight after that. I just hope we can get something done before it’s another nine months. I hate these long layoffs.”
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