'It's just kind of a sh*tty situation': Hakeem Dawodu anxious to get back to work after UFC kept him on ice for nearly 2 years |

23/09/2025 18:00 -

Hakeem Dawodu was ready to fight, and he really wanted to stay busy.

That might actually be a massive understatement as the veteran featherweight sat idle for the better part of the past two years waiting on a call from the UFC only to receive the unfortunate news that he was being released from his contract. The worst part about all of that was Dawodu last fought in August 2023, remaining healthy enough to compete yet he says the UFC just kept making him wait until eventually deciding to let him go back in June.

"It wasn't on my part," Dawodu explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. "I had that fight with Cub Swanson, I got robbed by a really bad decision. The UFC kept saying 'don't worry, we're going to get you another fight.' They just kept me on hold.

"I was with the UFC, they just kept telling me 'don't worry, we're going to get you a fight, we're going to get you a fight' and all of a sudden, a whole bunch of time passed and I was messaging Sean Shelby trying to get a fight, asking him what's going on. Because I got robbed, and I don't know, they released me. That's really all I know to be honest."

Dawodu says he never heard any kind of explanation about the continued delays in booking him in a fight much less why the UFC ultimately decided to release him from the promotion.

While he certainly understands that suffering back-to-back losses could have ended with the UFC dropping him from the roster, Dawodu admits the hardest part was being shelved for nearly two years before finding out his fate.

"I don't really know what happened," Dawodu said. "I don't know why they held onto me for two years, didn't fight me and then released me. That's kind of been the whole issue. I've been ready to fight this whole time. UFC just kept telling me to wait, telling me to wait and then all of a sudden, I found out one day they were releasing me. Because I guess I had two losses back-to-back. It's just kind of a shitty situation.

"Honestly, I don't why it happened like that. I've seen plenty of other Canadians have back-to-back losses and they don't cut them. I don't really know what the issue was to be honest."

Dawodu never stopped training during his layoff but that was also one of the most frustrating parts about the delay in booking a fight. Fighters are often forced to sit out due to injuries or even personal problems but Dawado was healthy and ready to compete yet he remained sidelined.

The situation was so bad that Dawodu reveals he contemplated retirement but eventually decided otherwise.

"I was waiting but I've been training so long," Dawodu said. "Training is life. So my training never really changed up. But the motivation was a bit hard for a little bit because as you said, I had no goal. I was a little bit almost done with MMA for a bit there because that decision really kind of messed everything up. You stop trusting everyone.

"They left me on the bench for a little bit. I was so good in the UFC, I took all those tough fights, I fought all those Russians and to get the crap end of the stick kind of threw me off the whole game. But I've just been training this whole time and everyone telling me how good I am in training and my skill, I just didn't think it was time to hang it up."

As soon as he got his walking papers from the UFC, Dawodu immediately started looking for new opportunities and that's when Unified MMA came calling.

The Canadian-based promotion has been putting on shows for the past seven years, and Dawodu was excited for the chance to fight close to home with his primary base in Calgary. 

The next job was finding Dawodu a worthy opponent and that didn't come easy but he praises 6-1 prospect Jake Geauvreau for stepping up to the challenge. "

"It was really hard," Dawodu said about finding someone willing to accept him as an opponent. "Supposedly this is the only kid who wanted to fight in Canada. This was the only guy that wanted to fight. Props to him but I guess it was really tough trying to find me a fight."

The past two years have been incredibly difficult for Dawodu but he's more than anxious to get back in the cage again so he can ply his trade.

Dawodu really wants to make a statement with his next fight so that could potentially get him back on the radar for other promotions interested in potentially keeping him busy at work.

As far as working with the UFC again, he's not shutting down that possibility but he also hasn't forgotten how that relationship ended.

"It was a little disrespectful to leave me on ice like that," Dawodu said about the UFC. "But we're here now and we're going to make the best of it.

"I'm optimistic. I think a good win at Unified will be really good for my career. Get the belt. I know the UFC's coming back to Vancouver. I can always get re-signed. So we're just staying optimistic and just let my skill do the talking. At the end of the day, we'll see what lies on my future. Obviously, the UFC's the best organization right now. I got did dirty. I'm just keeping my options open. I think the best for me right now is get back in the winning column and then go from there and see where the road leads to."