UFC Calgary: Hometown hero Hakeem Dawodu dazzles in first win
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As soon as Hakeem Dawodu stepped into the octagon, the fans were chanting his name.
He might not get that sort of reaction anywhere else in the world, but Dawodu is a Calgary kid fighting in his hometown, and Calgarians have a tendency to look after their own.
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Dawodu repaid his hometown’s love with a brilliant performance in the octagon in which he handily out-struck American Austin Arnett and earned unanimous decision.
Afterwards, an emotional Dawodu was in tears as he walked out of the octagon.
The 27-year-old was coming off a loss in his UFC debut, so he needed a win to secure his future in the UFC. To get it in front of friends and family? Yeah, that was special.
“It was everything. Having a hard upbringing, being in the UFC, performing in my home city,” Dawodu said when he was asked about the emotions that came out after his win. “Coming off that loss, it was so many emotions. It just kind of came out.”
Dawodu’s win came right before another Albertan, Jordan Mein, made his way to the octagon.
Unlike Dawodu, Mein has been around the fight game for years. The Lethbridge native has seen it all in the octagon and managed to survive an insane opening onslaught from Alex Morono and do more than enough to secure a victory.
Mein had promised to be extra aggressive in the fight, but ended up having to adjust to Morono’s approach.
“We were swinging hard, he must have read the interview I did, because he came out immediately and wanted to take me out,” Mein said.
For Mein, the win wasn’t quite as emotional as it was for Dawodu. Mein was coming off a win over Erick Silva, after all, so the fight wasn’t quite as do-or-die as it might have been for Dawodu.
The Calgarian had been arguably the most talked-about prospect in MMA before making his UFC debut in March, but his disappointing showing against Danny Henry had many question whether he was as good as everyone believed.
“A lot of weight is lifted off my shoulders,” Dawodu said. “A) I was like ‘I can’t let this guy come to my city and take a W from me’ and B) to prove that I belong in the UFC and I wasn’t just picking my opponents when I was undefeated.”
The two big Albertan wins were the final two fights of Saturday night’s preliminary card at the Saddledome, but they might have gotten the biggest crowd reactions of the night.
There was a brief period not all that long ago when there were no UFC fighters from Alberta, despite a thriving local MMA scene.
On Saturday, Mein and Dawodu ensured that they’ll be sticking around for a while and representing the province on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage.
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