Perfect as a pro, with four of his 12 wins coming in the UFC, Madsen is a test for anyone, especially considering his status as a three-time Danish Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling who secured a Silver medal in the 2016 Games. And though Dawson is seeking the win primarily to keep his career moving in the right direction, there is a little added incentive to put a “1” in Madsen’s loss column for the first time.
“I think that there’s a little bit of being able to set a blueprint,” he admits. “It is kind of nice being able to say, ‘Hey, I figured this out when the rest of you guys couldn’t.’ Because when you do lose, unless you get knocked out in 10 seconds, or take (Kamaru) Usman, for example, getting knocked out by Leon Edwards. We didn’t really learn anything on how to beat Usman. When you can beat somebody and take their “0” with a decision or a submission or something like that, you kind of open up a, ‘Hey, this is the blueprint, this is how people are gonna beat him moving forward.’ And then, if they can, it makes you look even better.”
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It might even get Dawson a number by his name and open up more opportunities where peers are willing to fight him.
“I don’t think that anybody’s necessarily afraid of me,” Dawson said. “I think that I’m more frustrated that I’m not ranked yet because I think that people are not fighting me, not because they’re afraid of me, but because they know that I’m really good and I don’t bring any big value if they beat me. I’m not ranked yet – I should be ranked, I’ve got seven fights with the UFC and I haven’t lost any of them. I think I should be in the Top 15 and I think once I get into the Top 15 after this fight, I think that we’ll be able to get more matchups because there’s more reward next to my name if you do beat me.”