Tale of the Tape
Result Summary
Grant Dawson defeated Mateusz Rębecki by rear naked choke at 4:42 of round three in their lightweight prelim at UFC 328 in Newark on May 9, 2026. Dawson controlled the opening round, hurting Rębecki on the feet before transitioning to grappling, but Rębecki answered in the second with a knockdown that momentarily leveled the fight. Dawson responded by taking Rębecki's back early in the third and methodically worked the rear naked choke for the finish. The victory was Dawson's seventh UFC submission win and a direct bounce-back from his TKO loss to Manuel Torres. Dawson was visibly emotional in the octagon after the stoppage.
Fight Overview
Grant Dawson (23-3-1) and Mateusz Rebecki (20-4) both arrive to snap losing streaks with a sharp stylistic contrast defining each man's path forward. Dawson's first-round TKO loss to Manuel Torres at UFC 323 raised durability questions on the feet; Rebecki earned back-to-back Fight of the Night bonuses in his two most recent losses but never got the scorecard. Elite grappling against relentless striking pressure, with neither man able to afford another defeat.
Keys to Victory
Grant Dawson
- Get the fight to the mat as quickly as possible and avoid the prolonged striking exchanges that cost him against Torres.
- Use wrestling as a threat to disrupt Rebecki's combination flow even on sequences where Dawson chooses not to finish the takedown.
- Hunt rear-naked choke setups from back control, where 11 of 13 submission wins originate, and stay patient once secured.
Mateusz Rębecki
- Establish volume and forward aggression from the opening bell to prevent Dawson from setting up his wrestling game on his own terms.
- Stay mobile and use lateral movement to make Dawson's shots easier to read and sprawl against rather than fighting from the fence.
- Target the chin with sharp combinations to exploit the durability question the Torres knockout established — Dawson can be finished on the feet.
Last 5 fights
Grant Dawson
Mateusz Rębecki
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AI-generated This analysis was generated with AI and may contain errors.