Tag: Hakeem Dawodu

Cub Swanson books UFC return at featherweight vs. Hakeem Dawodu

Legendary “Killer” Cub is back for his 23rd fight in the UFC.

[autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag] is set for his 23rd appearance in the UFC.

At a UFC Fight Night event Aug. 12 at the UFC Apex, Swanson (28-13 MMA, 13-9 UFC) will return to featherweight to take on [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag] (13-3-1 MMA, 6-3 UFC).

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial Instagram post by Swanson. The person asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Swanson, 39, is 3-2 over his most past five fights. He most recently competed in October when he made his bantamweight debut vs. Jonathan Martinez, which he lost by TKO due to leg kicks. Swanson recently told MMA Junkie he planned on a move back to featherweight, though he’d love to prove his doubters wrong by staying at bantamweight.

Dawodu, 31, has not competed since a September loss to Julian Erosa by unanimous decision. He was scheduled to compete June 10 at UFC 289 but withdrew due to injury. Dawodu is 1-2 in his most recent three fights after a 12-1-1 start to his pro MMA career.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CuAFeNxru4-/

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Aug. 12 includes:

  • Vicente Luque vs. Rafael Dos Anjos
  • Hakeem Dawodu vs. Cub Swanson
  • Mike Breeden vs. Lando Vannata
  • Jaqueline Amorim vs. Montserrat Ruiz
  • Iasmin Lucindo vs. Polyana Viana
  • Gaston Bolanos vs. Marcus McGhee
  • AJ Dobson vs. Tafon Nchukwi
  • Chris Daukaus vs. Khalil Rountree
  • Josh Fremd vs. Jamie Pickett
  • Isaac Dulgarian vs. Francis Marshall
  • Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Brady Hiestand

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for the UFC Fight Night on Aug. 12.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (April 3-9)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from April 3-9.

Julian Erosa loved that Hakeem Dawodu missed weight at UFC 279: ‘I know I’m gonna get paid’

“I encourage and actually am happy if people miss weight because I know I’m gonna get paid.”

LAS VEGAS – As long as he’s making extra money, [autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag] has no problem if his opponents miss weight.

[autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag] (13-3-1 MMA, 6-3 UFC) came in 3.5 pounds over the featherweight limit in his fight against Erosa (28-9 MMA, 6-5 UFC) at UFC 279 on Saturday and was fined 30 percent of his purse.

Erosa upset Dawodu with a unanimous decision win at T-Mobile Arena, and although “Juicy J” has a hard time making 145 pounds, he was all smiles when he was asked about Dawodu’s weight miss.

“I used to get upset when people missed weight, but now I love it,” Erosa told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight news conference. “Peterson missed weight and I made a lot of money off Peterson because of the Fight of the Night and so I encourage and actually am happy if people miss weight because I know I’m gonna get paid.

“By the time they’re gonna miss weight, I’ve already rehydrated because I’ve made weight at 9 o’clock and they missed weight at 10:30 and 10:30 I’m probably like 10 pounds heavier than I was, so I don’t think there’s even an advantage. I mean they didn’t really kill themselves like I had to kill myself – I’m a big guy, but I don’t feel sorry for guys that miss weight or taking their money because they weren’t worried about me when I was about to die in my garage making weight.”

Erosa is currently enjoying his best UFC run having won his past three in a row. As for what’s next, the 33-year-old hopes to continue drawing fellow strikers and has a few names in mind.

“I loved the Dawodu fight because I knew he was gonna stand and bang,” Erosa said. “I knew he wasn’t really going to care about taking people down, and I was willing to exchange with him. I’m pretty much healthy and I took a little too much time off in between the Peterson fight and this fight, but it was a good time for me to kind of reset.

“But I’d be willing to fight before the year is up for sure. I would really just like to fight another striker. Guys like Luis Saldana, a long, lanky striker, I think he would be a fun one. Caceres, I’ve always wanted to fight Caceres, but I don’t even know what he’s got going on. But long, lanky strikers are always fun because this is what I am, and I think we could mix it up and have a Fight of the Night.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 279.

[vertical-gallery id=2579735]

UFC 279 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Khamzat Chimaev nets $6,000

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 279 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $202,000.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 279 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $202,000.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC 279 took place at T-Mobile Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNNews and ESPN+.

The full UFC 279 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Daniel Rodriguez[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Li Jingliang[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Macy Chiasson[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ion Cutelaba[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jailton Almeida[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Anton Turkalj[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Chris Barnett[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jake Collier[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Norma Dumont[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Danyelle Wolf[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Heili Alateng[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Chad Anheliger[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Elise Reed[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Melissa Martinez[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Yohan Lainesse[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Darian Weeks[/autotag]: $4,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Year-to-date total: $6,171,000
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $12,338,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 279.

Julian Erosa def. Hakeem Dawodu at UFC 279: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Julian Erosa’s unanimous decision win over Hakeem Dawodu at UFC 279 in Las Vegas.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag] at UFC 279 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Photos by Joe Camporeale, USA TODAY Sports)

Photos: UFC 279 ceremonial weigh-ins and faceoffs

Check out these photos from the UFC 279 ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday in Las Vegas.

Check out these photos from the UFC 279 ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (Photos courtesy of Ken Hathaway – MMA Junkie)

Photos: UFC 279 official weigh-ins

Check out the photos from the UFC 279 official weigh-ins at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Check out the photos from the UFC 278 official weigh-ins at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (Images by Ken Hathaway–MMA Junkie)

Hakeem Dawodu hopes to kickstart title run with finish of Julian Erosa at UFC 279: ‘My time is now’

Minus a setback to Movsar Evloev, Hakeem Dawodu has been on a roll at 145 pounds.

LAS VEGAS – Minus a setback to Movsar Evloev, [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag] has been on a role at 145 pounds.

Winner of six of his past seven, Dawodu (13-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) meets [autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag] (27-9 MMA, 5-5 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 279 featured prelim at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Dawodu won’t underestimate Erosa, but expects to be a problem for him no matter where the fight goes.

“One thing I noticed is he’s tall – he’s 6-(foot)-1,” Dawodu told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at Wednesday’s UFC 279 media day. “(The) second thing I noticed, he seems to have decent cardio. And the third thing I noticed is he seems to like to scrap. But as well, I look at his weaknesses. I saw that he got knocked out by Julio Arce, which I felt like I had no problems with him. I see that he’s a little bit sloppy. He has holes in his game. He likes to get hit.

“I think that’s just a bad recipe for me. I’m the least-hit featherweight of all time, and I’m a very high-level striker, former world champion in muay Thai, very high wrestling defense, my grappling is always getting better. So I see myself finishing this fight in a number of different ways. But just because I’ve beaten guys that have beaten him and he’s had his setbacks, I’m not taking this fight lightly.”

With a win over Erosa, Dawodu plans on setting his eyes back on the upper echelon of the division.

“After this fight, I’ve got some big names that I want to call out and get myself back in the rankings system and start making my title run,” Dawodu said. “I feel like my time is now.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 279.

[vertical-gallery id=458936]

[listicle id=2578788]

UFC 279 pre-event facts: A final look at Nate Diaz’s resume potential farewell fight

Take a look at the numbers behind Nate Diaz’s resume as he enters his likely final UFC bout vs. Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279.

The final UFC pay-per-view of the summer goes down Saturday with UFC 279 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNNews and early prelims on ESPN+.

A highly-anticipated and polarizing matchup serves as the main event of the card in “Sin City.” Undefeated rising star [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) will attempt to stay undefeated when he meets a legend of the game in [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] (20-13 MMA, 15-11 UFC), who will fight out the final bout on his current UFC contract.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC 279.

UFC 279 adds Hakeem Dawodu vs. Julian Erosa

UFC 279, headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev, now has 10 fights with the addition of Hakeem Dawodu vs. Julian Erosa.

Another featherweight fight is on tap for UFC 279.

Canada’s [autotag]Hakeem Dawodu[/autotag] (13-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and the United States’ [autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag] (27-9 MMA, 5-5 UFC) will square off at the Sept. 10 pay-per-view event scheduled for T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Two people with knowledge of the booking informed MMA Junkie of the matchup Wednesday but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Dawodu, 31, has won six of his past seven outings. Following a loss to Movsar Evloev in June 2021, Dawodu rebounded in February when he won a unanimous decision over Mike Trizano.

Erosa, 32, has gone 4-1 in his third stint with the UFC after he went a combined 1-4 in his first two stints. He rides a two-fight winning streak into UFC 279 with a submission against Charles Jourdain and a split decision against Steven Peterson. His win over Peterson won Fight of the Night honors. Since Peterson missed weight, Erosa pocketed $100,000.

With the addition, the UFC 279 lineup now includes:

  • Khamzat Chimaev vs. Nate Diaz
  • Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Jailton Almeida
  • Norma Dumont vs. Danyelle Wolf
  • Irene Aldana vs. Macy Chiasson
  • Denis Tiuliulin vs. Jamie Pickett
  • Heili Alateng vs. Chad Anheliger
  • Melissa Martinez vs. Elise Reed
  • Ion Cutelaba vs. Johnny Walker
  • Chris Barnett vs. Jake Collier
  • Hakeem Dawodu vs. Julian Erosa

[vertical-gallery id=2565529]