Grant Dawson Seeks New Foe After Diego Ferreira Pulls Out of UFC Fight Night 193

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Diego Ferreira just can’t catch a break lately.

MMA Junkie reported on Wednesday that Ferreira (17-4) has been forced out of his lightweight tilt with Grant Dawson (17-1) because of an injury. The nature of the injury has not yet been disclosed. The promotion is currently searching for a replacement option for Dawson, and it is unclear if it will find someone in time for the Oct. 2 show at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Ferreira has since confirmed his injury ahead of UFC Fight Night 193.

Ferreira was looking to snap a two-fight skid in 2021, where he came up short to Beneil Dariush in a rematch by split decision and then suffered a knockout loss to Gregor Gillespie three months later. This losing streak ended an impressive six-fight run for the Brazilian out of Texas that saw him defeat the likes of Anthony Pettis, Mairbek Taisumov and Rustam Khabilov. Ferreira also holds the distinction of being the winner of the inaugural Sherdog “Walkout Song of the Year” award, doing so when he entered to “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins and knocked Jared Gordon out.

Dawson, who signed from the first season of Dana White's Contender Series, has carved a swath through his opponents even while he struggled to find his weight class at featherweight. A wide miss against Darrick Minner in early 2020 led to a catchweight contest at 150 pounds in his next time out, and he made his UFC lightweight debut in March. Against Leonardo Santos, Dawson topped his Brazilian foe at 4:59 of the third round, tying the record for the second-latest finish in a three-round UFC bout.

UFC Fight Night 193 will carry on at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Oct. 2 with a full slate of bouts. The headliner sees Thiago Santos come to blows with Johnny Walker in a much-anticipated light heavyweight brawl. The current co-main event is a pivotal women’s bantamweight matchup pitting Aspen Ladd against Macy Chiasson. Other key pairings on the card include a middleweight tilt between Kevin Holland and Kyle Daukaus, while Misha Cirkunov faces Krzysztof Jotko at 185 pounds as well.