LAS VEGAS – Minus a setback to Movsar Evloev, Hakeem Dawodu has been on a role at 145 pounds.
Winner of six of his past seven, Dawodu (13-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) meets Julian Erosa (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.
Hakeem Dawodu hopes to kickstart title run with finish of Julian Erosa at UFC 279: ‘My time is now’