Athletes
Bringing Back The Old Drew Dober
New Dad Drew Dober Believes He Is Going To Bring The Fireworks Inside The APEX Against Ricky Glenn
Drew Dober is experiencing his first fight week as a dad ahead of his bout against Ricky Glenn at UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs Green and he loves every minute of it.
“It's a new experience, as all dads know,” Dober said. “It's brand new, but completely satisfying, fulfilling and far more motivation for this fight than I've ever had. It has been such a beautiful experience.”
Saturday's Full Fight Card Preview
Dober’s daughter arrived on June 1, just a few weeks after his fight against Matt Frevola in Newark. Following the new addition, Dober admits it took some time getting used to his new role, but he has enjoyed and embraced the chaos.
“The first two months was a disaster,” Dober said. “I didn't even think about fighting, but I got lucky, and I have an easy little daughter. So now it's been all about training camp. It's been a wonderful experience training, focusing on my fight and then coming home and being able to just focus on her. The balance has been beautiful.”
His fight against Frevola at UFC 288 didn’t go the way Dober had planned, with a first-round stoppage loss putting an end to his three-fight win streak, which included victories over Terrance McKinney, Rafael Alves, and Bobby Green.
Order UFC 294: Makhachev vs Oliveira 2
It was only the second time in his professional career that Dober has been knocked out. Even though it was a slight bump in the road for the 34-year-old, he believed it was something that needed to happen at that time in his career.
“It was unfortunate, but it was a learning experience,” Dober said. “Sometimes you forget about how you got there. With the knockout record and being ranked and all that stuff, I wasn’t doing certain things that got me there. I think I was feeling my own hype. I was listening to social media, and so we had to make the adjustment. What brought me to that position? We're bringing back the old Drew and then, of course, sprinkling a little bit of the new daddy motivation.”
He faces Glenn this weekend inside the UFC APEX, and when I asked him why this was the right fight for him, considering his past opponents, the answer was simple.
Recapping The Best Of The Lightweight Division in 2023
“I'm trying to stay active,” Dober said. “I don't want to wait for better opportunities. I want to stay more active. We're not getting any younger, plus I've got a baby now, so we need to start collecting checks. For me, I'm trying to get in the cage as often as possible, Ricky Glenn's name popped up, and I always say yes.”
Glenn returned to the Octagon in June 2021 after being away for nearly three years. Since then, he has fought three times, with a finish of Joaquim Silva, a draw against Grant Dawson and, most recently, a first-round knockout loss to Christos Giagos in April of this year.
“I'm not expecting much,” Dober said. “I'm here to figure it out. Ricky Glenn is not a very active fighter, and so I don't know what he's going to bring to the table, so we're going to figure it out in th e first round. I know what I always bring and it's the excitement. I'm looking for a knockout and we'll see what Ricky Glenn brings. I do know that it's going to be fireworks.”
READ: The 10 Biggest Fights In October
With three Fight of the Night bonuses and three Performance of the Night checks under his belt, fans can expect to see an exciting contest from Dober. He is tied with Dustin Poirier for the most knockouts in lightweight history, and holding the record is a goal that he has always had for himself.
We’ll have to wait and see if he makes it happen on Saturday night, but he is looking forward to bringing the fire into a quiet APEX arena.
“I want to bring back the old Drew Dober and that excitement, the eagerness to prove to everyone and myself that I deserve to be here.”
UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs Green took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 7, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
Tags
