MEXICO CITY – Inarguably one of the UFC’s preeminent action fighters, Drew Dober’s description of where he’s at in his career might be spot on.
“I’m like the diet Justin Gaethje,” Dober told reporters, including MMA Junkie, on Wednesday at UFC on ESPN 64 media day. “He’s up there fighting all those (top-ranked) guys, and I’m down here fighting all these guys. I just love being part of the lightweight division. It’s just murderer’s row, every single fight, and I really enjoy fighting these prospects.”
On deck for Dober is a Fight of the Night candidate against Manuel Torres in the co-main event of Saturday’s card (ESPN, ESPN+) at Arena CDMX. Torres, who made his UFC debut in 2022 after appearing on Dana White’s Contender Series, hasn’t competed beyond the first round in four octagon appearances as he’s claimed three fight night bonuses.
Dober (27-14 MMA, 13-10 UFC), who’s set to become just the seventh fighter to make 25 or more UFC lightweight appearances, understands why he and Torres (15-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) have been paired up.
“It’s completely understandable why we’re fighting each other,” Dober said. “He’s young, enthusiastic, he punches hard, and so do I. These are the fights that I want to live for. These are the fights that I’m fighting for. You only fight for a short period of time in your life, and you only have 15 minutes when you’re in there. So I want to make the most of every single time I’m in front of you guys, and this fight is gonna be quality.”
The fact that Dober, who has five fight night bonuses in his past eight appearances, is fighting in the main event is cool. But even cooler to him is that gets to fight in Mexico, a country rich in combat sports history.
“Actually found out I was co-main event like a week ago. That’s very exciting,” Dober said. “But the most exciting part was Mexico City. I finally get to fight out of my country again in Mexico with a ton of fight fans. Mexico loves their fighting, and I think they’re going to fall in love with the way I fight, and I’m so excited to be here.”
“… I feel like I’m aging like wine. I look young, I feel good, I have no major surgeries, and my fights are looking better. I’m just gonna keep rolling on this train for as long as possible, and I don’t think about the end to be honest. I want to fight always like this is my last fight ever. I want to be enthusiastic, so my goals are to have as many fights as I possibly can, as many opportunities to be in front of you guys, and to put in wars that people can remember for as long as I possibly can. Who knows? I might be one of those guys fighting into my 40s.”
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