The last time Jordan Dowdy stepped into a cage to fight was April 13, 2018. That will change on March 15 at Shamrock FC 316. Dowdy will take on Ben Brewer in a 180-lb. catchweight main event spot.
Dowdy (6-4) will look to make it three in a row against one of his most experienced opponents to date in Brewer (11-6). Though he hasn’t fought in 11 months, Dowdy says he’s been actively training the whole time.
“My experience has only grown in this year,” Dowdy told MMASucka. “I haven’t taken any time off. It was all about just getting better as a martial artist. It was kind of nice to put that hat on. Overall, it’s not been an off-year. It’s not been me sitting around, it’s been me trying to work on my craft.”
Dowdy said based on feedback from his coaches and teammates, his wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu skills have vastly improved, though they say he’s improved everywhere. He credited his coach, Nick Sanders, for doing nothing but great things for his BJJ game.
Another area Dowdy’s improved in has been piecing together his overall MMA game, especially his transitions.
“Certain things that used to be kind of a struggle to piece together technique-wise are now familiar road,” he said. “You learn quicker as you get older and your experience really plays into it. Honestly, the feedback I’ve been getting is I’m better than I’ve ever been. But if I had to pinpoint it down, I would say overall my timing, my striking into my wrestling and into my Jiu-Jitsu, and being able to be a little more patient.”
Though Dowdy would have preferred to fight over the past year, he admitted that having such a long layoff was kind of a blessing in disguise for what it did for his training.
“In a certain sense, as long as you make the most time of it, it can be like being in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber in Dragon Ball Z,” he said. “If you know you’ve got a bunch of stuff to work on, and you’re going to progressively keep pecking away at it and you have a year to do it, that’s a lot of volume, hours, repetitions, investing in your teammates who can help push you later.”
Ironically, Brewer’s layoff heading into this fight will be twice as long as Dowdy’s. He last competed in February 2017. Brewer, after starting his pro career 11-3, dropped three straight bouts to Randy Brown, Doug Usher and Grady Hurley, which Dowdy wonders if that was the reason for Brewer’s time away from the sport. However, Dowdy can only assume Brewer’s been spending the past two years training like he has. Though he doesn’t know which version of Brewer will show up.
“I’m going to expect a game, tough opponent who’s been training to make a comeback,” he said. “I’m going to give him that respect. It’s going to be a fun challenge, because I think he might bring something out of me that’s been waiting to be brought out. And if he doesn’t, that’s okay, too.”
As of now, Dowdy considers Guilherme “Bomba” Vasconcelos and Adam Meredith to be his toughest opponents to date. Bomba is a Bellator veteran, while Meredith was a 4-1 prospect at the time. Brewer could very well find himself with those two. However, Dowdy said he’ll wait until after the fight to make that call.
“[Bomba and Meredith] are some tough fights I took early that I probably shouldn’t have,” he said. “It’s hard to say what Brewer’s going to have, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he turns out to be in that vein.”
Shamrock FC 316 goes down Friday, March 15 from the River City Casino in St. Louis, MO. The card will be available to stream on FloCombat.
