It’s been a frustrating couple of months for Canadian Ryan Dickson. However the 10-3 fighter has the opportunity to turn his year around with an impressive victory on May 30th as he faces off with Jason Witt on the main card of Global Warriors FC 2 in Burlington, Ontario. While this matchup is at a catchweight of 162 pounds, it’s still a pivotal showdown for both combatants as they look to make the leap to one of the major fight organizations. Last time I spoke with Dickson, he had just lost his Hard Knocks lightweight title – to Bellator veteran Jason Fischer back in March at Hard Knocks 42 – and looked to bounce back in a big way by making the cut for Season 22 of The Ultimate Fighter. This was the second time the Joslin MMA product was trying out for the show and auditions were for the welterweight and lightweight divisions. However when the 25-year old arrived in Las Vegas, the UFC threw him and the rest of the welterweight hopefuls a major curve ball. With no explanation given, the UFC decided to only accept applicants for the 155 pound division. ‘It was annoying…..that’s pretty much the best way to describe it.” Dickson told MMAOddsBreaker. “It’s a popularly contest, and it’s [based] what gym you train at I guess. I wish they had the respect to inform [us beforehand]. There were almost 200, [welterweight fighters]. I had taken up my time to go down, and then they tell us that they’re not even doing that division? The only way you can put it is disrespectful, they don’t care if it affects us at all.” The good news however for Dickson, is that he won’t miss any cage time and also gets to fight in his hometown of Burlington when he returns to the cage on May 30th. “Of course I’m happy to be fighting at home. I’ve got all my friends and family that are able to go watch. I wish I had known about a confirmed opponent a bit earlier, but The Ultimate Fighter again that kind of screwed this up because I told [Global Warriors] that I wasn’t focussing on this fight because I had the mindset that I was [going to make it on] the TV show. [Unfortunately because this is short notice] I’m not able to sell as many tickets as I would have hoped to because they’re all gone. But it’s awesome that I can fight at home; being able to sleep in my own bed, being able to do my weight cut the way I want and eat my own food. It’s very convenient, I’m very happy to be fighting in my hometown.” With a record of 5-2, his opponent Witt has fought primarily on the regional circuit in Missouri and while he isn’t a household name, Dickson is just happy to be keeping active on his pursuit of a UFC contract. “[Witt] actually said he was in to do the fight a while ago. But I chose to do a fight a more experienced opponent [with] Kyle Bradley. He’s 20-11, fought in the UFC and I was expecting to take that fight. But Kyle broke his nose [in his win against Kalvin Hackney at WFC 39 on May 9th], so hopefully after this fight, that fight is available somewhere. I think Global Warriors 3 will happen and they said they will have that fight put on. But Jason was willing to step up again; I think he was training the whole time because he wanted the fight earlier on, but I glad he did for sure.” With just three losses on his 13 fight resume, Dickson knows he needs to make a statement in this fight. He’s been working with some high level Canadian wrestlers at Brock University, while also honing his skills with his head coach, former UFC fighter Jeff Joslin. While he respects his American opponent, Dickson doesn’t believe this will be a close fight. “It’s going to be non-stop pressure.” Dickson explained “Especially with it being three rounds. The three fights that I lost I didn’t pressure enough. I was worried about them pressuring me and I didn’t pressure enough. If he pressures me, then it’s going to be a very exciting fight. Which I like my odds with wrestling, power and I’ve shown that I have a good chin. I’ve seen his fights and he looks strong. But he’s not on my level anywhere and he has to know that seeing my fights. He’s not on my level with jiu-jitsu, striking and wrestling. Anywhere I want to take this fight that will happen. This fight is going to be finished within the first round.” Should Dickson emerge victorious in impressive fashion and earn his 11th career victory, the Burlington native would no doubt be in demand from any of the major promotions. While the UFC was always his number one goal, Dickson admits he has more of an open mind to other organizations, especially with his recent experience with the Ultimate Fighter tryouts. “The way the UFC’s been going, I’m looking at some of the guys they’re taking and it’s like where are these guys coming from? They’re so obsessed with American Top Team and Blackzillians and these big teams. They are picking weak dudes as opposed to looking at maybe some of the smaller gyms. If you’re not at Tristar, they don’t really look at you in Canada. There are so many good fighters here like Jesse Ronson, myself, smaller guys like Adrian Woolley, there is Josh Hill, there all killers. The UFC is passing up on these guys to take [2-1 fighters] I don’t get it. If Bellator comes up to me and offers me fights, maybe I’ll take that. I still want the UFC because that’s the big show, I’m starting to be swayed either way now. I like fighting as long as I can make a living doing it I don’t really care where I go.” You can follow Ryan on Twitter/Instagram @rydmma. You can listen to the full audio of the interview on Episode 106 of The Parting Shot Podcast.
