FIGHT ISLAND — A UFC photographer called Jeff Bottari caught the precise moment Grant Dawson landed a painful knee strike in his 150-pound bout Saturday.
It was a ruthlessly dominant performance from Dawson, who advanced his professional MMA record to 16 wins (three knockouts, 11 submissions, and two decisions) against just one loss, comfortably out-pointing Nad Narimani with two scores of 30-26 and a third of 29-27.
The catchweight match took place at the purpose-built, behind-closed doors Flash Forum venue on "Fight Island," which is a quarantined area on Yas Island built in conjunction with the Abu Dhabi government to provide the UFC with an environment in which it can hold international events during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Dawson was superior to Narimani in every facet of the fight, landing 136 of his 218 strikes, and nailing two of six takedowns.
The photo above shows the moment Dawson cracked his kneecap into Narimani's face which shows one thing clearly — cagefighting hurts.
But it wasn't the only photo Bottari took which underlines how much pain Narimani must have been in, trying to get Dawson off of him.