5 biggest winners from UFC Fight Night: Grant Dawson vs. Bobby Green

The UFC’s latest event went down last night at the Las Vegas APEX, and despite a lack of fanfare, it was a relatively decent show.

Whether fans will still be talking about UFC Fight Night: Grant Dawson vs. Bobby Green by next week is debatable, but some fighters still picked up big victories last night.

So with four fighters awarded a bonus $50k, who were the night’s biggest winners overall?

Here are the five biggest winners from UFC Fight Night: Grant Dawson vs. Bobby Green.

#5. Karolina Kowalkiewicz – defeated Diana Belbita in a UFC strawweight bout

Karolina Kowalkiewicz is now on a remarkable four-fight win streak [Image Credit: @karolinakowalkiewicz on Instagram]

It’s probably fair to argue that Karolina Kowalkiewicz’s win over Diana Belbita flew under the radar somewhat last night.

After all, their fight took place on the preliminary portion of the show, didn’t end in exciting fashion, and was unsurprisingly overshadowed by some of the violence that came later on in the night.

However, despite that, it’s hard not to view Kowalkiewicz as one of the event’s biggest winners overall.

That’s because remarkably, the native of Poland is now on a four-fight win streak and could well climb back into contention at 115lbs with another victory.

To say this turnaround in her career has been surprising would be an understatement. If you rewind back to August 2021, Kowalkiewicz was on a five-fight losing streak and her UFC career looked like it was about to end.

For any fighter to turn that kind of slump around is impressive, but Kowalkiewicz genuinely shone in her win over Belbita, outpacing the younger fighter throughout their three-round bout.

Whether she can keep this form up against the division’s better fighters is anyone’s guess, but it’s hard not to call the former title challenger a big winner right now.

#4. Drew Dober – defeated Ricky Glenn in a UFC lightweight bout

Drew Dober broke an octagon record in his win over Ricky Glenn [Image Credit: @ufc on Instagram]

Whenever Drew Dober steps into the octagon, he seems to produce a fight worth watching, and his clash with Ricky Glenn last night was no exception.

Dober came into the clash off the back of a disappointing loss to Matt Frevola, and many fans wondered if he’d perhaps reached the end of his time as a relevant lightweight in the UFC.

However, the Colorado native proved that idea wrong by dispatching Glenn inside a round, switching his lights off midway through the stanza with a violent combination.

Not only did the win earn Dober a well-deserved $50k bonus, but remarkably, it was also his ninth knockout as a lightweight in the octagon, meaning he set a UFC record too.

Dober may never reach proper title contention at 155lbs, but he remains one of the most watchable fighters on the roster, and this showing definitely made him a big winner.

#3. Joaquin Buckley – defeated Alex Morono in a UFC welterweight bout

Joaquin Buckley looks like he could be the real deal at 170lbs [Image Credit: @ufc on Instagram]

After going viral for his wild spinning kick knockout of Impa Kasanganay in 2020, Joaquin Buckley hasn’t quite been able to live up to his billing in the UFC.

However, that may be changing for ‘New Mansa’, who has looked like an entirely different beast since moving down to 170lbs earlier this year.

Buckley started his welterweight journey by knocking out the tricky Andre Fialho, and while he didn’t pick up a finish last night, he looked excellent in his win over Alex Morono.

Despite ‘The Great White’ being renowned for his durability and toughness, Buckley was able to stay one step ahead throughout the fight, landing the heavier strikes and adding in some takedowns for good measure.

Morono was never truly close to being finished, but the fact that Buckley completely whitewashed him was still highly impressive.

Can Buckley become a contender at 170lbs? Right now it’s hard to say, but it’d definitely be worth giving him a step up in his next bout. For now, he stands out as one of last night’s biggest winners.

#2. Joe Pyfer – defeated Abdul Razak Alhassan in a UFC middleweight bout

Joe Pyfer remains unbeaten inside the octagon [Image Credit: @ufc on Instagram]

Coming into last night’s event, there was a little criticism of the UFC for their treatment of prospect Joe Pyfer.

Seemingly a favorite of Dana White’s already, ‘Bodybagz’ looked brilliant in his KO win over Gerald Meerschaert earlier this year, and so many fans expected him to be shunted up the ladder in his next bout.

Instead, Pyfer was matched with Abdul Razak Alhassan – a natural 170lber and a fighter seen as more than a little one-dimensional.

However, in reality, with Pyfer being such a young prospect, the matchmaking made perfect sense. While ‘Bodybagz’ only did as expected by dispatching ‘Judo Thunder’, he still showed some new wrinkles in his game, making him a big winner overall.

Many fans expected Pyfer to look to trade with his smaller foe, but clearly recognizing the punching power of Alhassan, he instead worked his takedown game. This approach paid dividends in the second round, when ‘Bodybagz’ sunk in an arm triangle choke and put the veteran to sleep.

Fans expecting Pyfer to be thrown to the wolves next time out will likely be disappointed again, but for such a raw prospect, he’s performing excellently in the octagon. This was an impressive showing from him overall.

#1. Bobby Green – defeated Grant Dawson in a UFC lightweight bout

Bobby Green snapped Grant Dawson's unbeaten streak in seconds [Image Credit: @ufc on Instagram]

Given that he snapped the unbeaten streak of a fighter who hadn’t lost since 2016, Bobby Green was always going to be considered one of last night’s biggest winners.

However, nobody expected ‘King’ to take out Grant Dawson in just 33 seconds. Combine this with his big win over Tony Ferguson earlier in the year, and it looks like Green may well be back in contention at 155lbs.

The difference here, essentially, was speed. Green appeared to be moving at an entirely different clip to ‘KGD’, and after dropping him out of nowhere with a straight left, the fight was all but over.

At the age of 37, it’s hard to imagine ‘King’ making a run at the lightweight title, but stranger things have happened. At worst, he’ll probably steal Dawson’s No.10 ranking, meaning that a big fight is likely to be next for him.

Given that he took out ‘KGD’ in less than a minute, Green could well be back in action before the end of 2023. If he can win again, then he should not only be considered one of last night’s biggest winners but one of the year’s biggest winners overall, too.