Hakeem Dawodu’s Defeat Against Zubaira Tukhugov Marks Fifth Win in a Row
“They only allowed me to bring one flag, so I’m really sorry for not bringing the Jamaican and Canadian flags but you know what I represent,” says Hakeem Dawodu, while representing Nigeria at the UFC 253 Flash Forum, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
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The Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, Hakeem Dawodu has recorded another win as he defeats the Russian fighter, Zubaira Tukhugov, at the UFC 253 fight night in Abu Dhabi; where Hakeem Dawodu knocked out Zubaira Tukhugov via split decision in the Featherweight division, marking his fifth successive wins. Hakeem, who is fast rising after he got defeated by Danny Henry on his debut in 2018 has been no less impressive in his last four fights.
The potential fight between Hakeem and Zubaira which kicked off the main card proceedings started out a little sloppy when Zubaira missed weight, coming in four pounds over the non-title featherweight limit of 146 pounds, while Hakeem came in at exactly 145 pounds.
Hakeem, a rising contender in the UFC featherweight division teases the not-so-ready Zubaira to a fight. While he turned it on the third round, Zubaira was less aggressive, possibly deciding the outcome. Hakeem (12-1-1) improved to 5-1 in the UFC with a split decision nod over Zubaira (19-5-1).
During the fight, both contenders looked to feint, set traps and counter off the other. According to the UFC statistics, Hakeem almost doubled Zubaira’s offensive output in the third round, out-landing him in total strikes 70-40.
On his victory, Hakeem said,
“I thought it was going to be a good fight but as everybody can see, he was running. I promise the next fight, give me somebody that ain’t gonna run.”
Hakeem is a Canadian professional MMA and former Muay Thai fighter. As a Muay Thai fighter, Hakeem competed in different countries including Canada, Russia and Japan. He had 42 wins and 5 losses from July 2010 to October 2012 as an amateur and 9 wins 0 loss as a professional from 2012-2015. In 2010, Hakeem became the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) World Classic Muay Thai Rules Welterweight Champion and won gold at the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) World Cup Tournament in the 63.5kg category. In 2014, he was also the World Muay Thai Council (WMC) Intercontinental Welterweight Champion.
As a mixed martial arts fighter, Hakeem competes in the featherweight division. He joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as an undefeated MMA fighter and made his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night in March 2018. However, Hakeem was quick to mark his first win when he defeated Austin Arnett at the UFC on Fox 30. He also knocked out Yoshinori Horie at UFC 240 in 2019 and recently, Zubaira Tukhugov via split decision in the recently completed fight.