Grant Dawson believes there's no tougher weight class than the UFC lightweight division.

Dawson earned arguably the biggest win of his career after outpointing Damir Ismagulov in their lightweight bout at UFC Vegas 76 this past weekend.

In the process, he became just the third fighter to defeat Ismagulov — who now holds a 24-3 record — and just the second in the UFC.

And for Dawson, it's a massive win considering where Ismagulov ranks in what he views as the best division in MMA.

“You cannot be upset with a win against a guy like Damir,” Dawson said at the UFC Vegas 76 post-fight press conference (via MMA Fighting). “It wasn’t about the performance — if you can get over on a guy like Damir, that’s something to be proud of. That dude is not ranked No. 12 in the world, he is so much better than that. They just put him at No. 12 for some weird reason. So I’m very, very happy with it.

“He’s one of those guys that you go for something and he gets away and ends up winning the round back, or even worse, he gets the finish. You have to be safe with these guys. These are the best guys in the world, in the top weight class in the world. There is not a harder weight class than 155. There isn’t. You can say 135 because of all the former champs that are up there, but it’s thinner. The top 15 might look the same, but everything outside the top 15 isn’t even close.”

It's hard to argue with Dawson.

The lightweight division has long been considered the premier weight class in the UFC for the last five or six years. One can be on impressive win streaks and still not get a title shot — just ask the likes of Tony Ferguson or Beneil Dariush.

As for Dawson, even though he will likely be ranked No. 12 next, he is still miles away from a title shot. That said, he feels every lightweight has a different path to 155-pound gold.

“I think everybody’s got a different path,” Dawson explained. “Islam [Makhachev] had kind of a weird path where he fought really good guys and then some not so good guys, and then some really good guys and then some not so good guys, and then looked great against the champion.

“You’ve got guys like [Mateusz] Gamrot, who is fighting literally anybody. He just called out Rafael Fiziev. Who the hell wants to fight that guy? Win, lose, or draw, you’re coming out with a closed eye, and my guy Gamrot is calling that dude out. What a G. Calls out any tough fight.

“Everybody’s path is different. I think I’ve just got to get back into the gym on Monday and get better.”