Preview: UFC Fight Night 229 ‘Dawson vs. Green’

Lightweights

Drew Dober (26-12, 12-8 UFC) vs. Ricky Glenn (22-7-2, 4-4-1 UFC)

ODDS: Dober (-470), Glenn (+360)

This pairing comes at an interesting time, since both men are looking to rebound from surprisingly definitive losses. Dober has toiled away on the UFC roster for roughly a decade, and it felt like he finally started getting his due in the last few years. A fairly unremarkable fighter for the first few years of his UFC career, Dober eventually found some knockout power in 2019 and started to earn a reputation for some entertaining wars. Dober scored big knockouts of Terrance McKinney, Rafael Alves and Bobby Green—all in excellent fights—and a May bout against Matt Frevola figured to be another violent scrap that would set him up for bigger things. The fight was certainly exciting, but the result was somewhat of a shock. Dober’s approach depends a great deal on his ability to eat his opponent’s offense and throw back, and Frevola knocked him out in about four minutes for the Elevation Fight Team rep’s first such loss since 2011. If what has historically been one of the best chins in the sport is suddenly cracked, then Dober badly needs to retool his game, and it will be interesting to see if Glenn can make something happen at a similarly crucial junction in his career.

Glenn hit the UFC in 2016 with a decade of pro experience under his belt and played the crafty vet well for his first few trips to the Octagon. Glenn has never been a particularly strong athlete, but his combination of durability, scrappiness and technical acumen has made him a perennial tough out even when he has run against a physical wall. However, Glenn’s body started to betray him after a 2018 loss to Kevin Aguilar, forcing him out of action for two and a half years. Upon his return, “The Gladiator” put together a surprisingly strong run in 2021, knocking out Joaquim Silva and taking Grant Dawson to a draw. Unfortunately, another long injury layoff—this time for 18 months—might be the start of a sharp decline for Glenn, given that his return fight in April saw him get knocked out for the first time in his career. Glenn might still have a path to victory given Dober’s questionable defensive wrestling, but this still looks like an uphill battle. Even if both men have diminished durability, Dober has historically been the one with much more effective one-punch power. There are still reasons to be worried about Dober going forward, but this looks like the right kind of rebound fight. The pick is Dober via first-round knockout.

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Dawson vs. Green
Pyfer vs. Alhassan
Buckley vs. Morono
Dober vs. Glenn
Cutelaba vs. Lins
Algeo vs. Hernandez
The Prelims