Drew Dober is a cold-blooded fighter with a warm smile. He looks happy and harmless doing interviews.
Then you watch his highlights, and wonder how long his opponents take nourishment through a straw after his bouts.
Dober is helping headline UFC’s first card in Denver since 2018. He is known for knockouts. He competes as if everything is personal, like the person across from him is not only trying to beat him but devour him.
Dober finishes take on a common theme. Straight left. Right hook. Left hook. Opponent’s knees buckle. Head bounces off the mat. Dober leaps into the air in jubilation.
While it’s not his focus leading into Saturday’s fight vs. Jean Silva at Ball Arena, Dober understands the fascination with his power. He sits tied with Dustin Poirier for the most KOs in UFC lightweight division history with nine.
Reaching double figures in Denver, the place he’s long called home, matters.
“Truthfully, it snuck up on me,” Dober told The Post. “I am just out here working hard and having fun and a couple of fights ago I learned I was tied. It’s not something I think about like a lot of other people apparently do. But it means a lot to be part of a UFC world record.”
Dober is not from Colorado, but he might as well be. He shifted from training in Nebraska to the Centennial State in 2012. His career was gaining traction. From April of 2012 to October of 2013, he posted a 6-1 record. He found his sweet spot.
“The guys in Denver were tougher. I was already kind of training out here on my vacations. So eventually I just wanted to make the move,” Dober said. “I could have gone to New York, Florida and California. But Colorado was just calling me out.”
Dober, who is now 27-13, takes pride in being part of this event. Then again, at 35, he embraces every opportunity to step foot into the octagon. He was so determined to stay on this card, that Dober agreed to five different names after Mike Davis suffered an injury in training. Jean Silva took the bout just two weeks after registering a TKO versus Charles Jourdain. Silva is 13-2 with a 10-fight win streak.
“It can be hard because of the uncertainty because you don’t know what you are going to get when they replace a fighter (last minute). But luckily, I train in a way where I don’t focus on the opponent,” Dober said. “I am ready. And I don’t care who stares across at me in the ring.”
Styles make fights and the crowd is already rubbing their hands together in anticipation of this one. Silva is not boring. He will take chances. That means Dober could finish on his feet.
“He’s not going to try and lay on me for 15 minutes,” Dober said during his pre-fight presser. “So, I think this match is made for me, made for Denver, Colorado, and it’s going to be the fight of the night.”
While there are many stories of boxers and wrestlers finding homes in mixed martial arts by function or desperation, Dober’s path was more linear. He gravitated toward Muay Thai training at the age of 14. He became a two-time amateur national champion. But when he saw Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture compete, his mind was made up.
“I recognized that it was a physical chess match. Seeing them, I was dumbfounded. I saw the art and the beauty,” Dober said. “And I wanted to be part of it.”
Dober’s passion has not dulled. Most fighters his age are not capable of or interested in getting hit anymore. But Dober believes he’s aging like Benjamin Button. And inspiration comes easily with young daughter Sonya now attending the fights. That is his why?
“Yeah, because you only live once, these careers are short and you never know when it will be over,” Dober said. “I stay active. And it’s kind of hard to explain, but I feel better at 35 than I did at 25. When you are in your 20s, you live on piss and vinegar. You are a bad driver of a sports car. Now, I have mellowed. I am wiser and I think you see that in my performances.”
He hasn’t lost the thump in his fists. They should come with obligatory ice packs and health insurance co-payments. This will be Dober’s 41st UFC bout, but this one feels different. He’s home. And it figures to pack a punch. Maybe even a knockout.
“Oh man, I haven’t been in front of the Denver crowd in over 10 years. That energy and that love from the crowd, it’s going to be exciting,” Dober said. “I can’t wait to hear that song walking to the ring. It’s going to be a special night.”
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