The opening bout of the main card of UFC 253 kicked off with catchweight bout between “Mean” Hakeem Dawodu (great fight nickname!) against Zubaira “Warrior” Tukhugov. The bout, scheduled for the featherweight division was contested at catchweight as Tukhugov unprofessionally missed weight by large margin of four pounds. Tukhugov is famous for cowardly attacking Conor McGregor from behind McGregor’s back in the post-fight brawl at UFC 229.

Tukhugov entered the bout with an unimpressive 1-1-1 record in his past three fights. Dawodu, on the other hand, is a rising prospect that brought a four fight UFC win streak into the bout.

Round 1

The fight got off to a slow start as the fighters felt each other out, with only Dawodu throwing three strikes in the first minute plus of the first round. Tukhugov lands the first significant strike of the fight with a solid left hook. Dawodu landed several low kicks in the first half of the round. Tukhugov landed a nice straight right hand with a couple minutes left in the round. But his strikes have mostly been thrown in isolation and not as part of a combination. Dawodu scored with a solid left hand to the body. Dawodu landed another good left hand to the body in the last minute of the round.

Seattle Fights round score – 10-9 Dawodu (very close round but Dawodu’s leg kicks and body shot gave him a slight edge)

Round 2

Dawodu landed an effective switch kick early in the round. Dawodu followed up with a spinning kick that landed to the body. A minute into the second round Dawodu appeared to land the fight’s first combination with a counter 1-2. Dawodu landed a hard outside low kick as damage to Tukhugov’s left calf is showing via red marks. Dawodu lands a very stiff jab shortly after Tukhugov appeared to land an uppercut. Tukhugov finally starts to throw some effective combinations and lands a couple of uppercut-left hook offerings. Dawodu then landed a hard right hand counter. The action really began to heat up in the middle of Round 2 as both fighters increased their attacks and amped up the aggression. Dawodu defended one takedown attempt but, after landing a hard left hook to Tukhugov’s body, gave up a takedown to Tukhugov with a little more than one minute left in the round. Tukhugov, however, did not meaningfully advance position and mounted no significant offense while in top position.

Seattle Fights round score – 10-9 Tukhugov (another close round but the takedown seals the round for the Russian)

Round 3

Dawodu landed another nice, hard outside leg kick early in the round as Tukhugov’s lead leg started to show significant swelling and redness as his leg was clearly damaged. Dawodu showed nice athleticism as he effectively stuffed two takedown attempts from Tukhugov in quick succession. Dawodu absolutely cracked Tukhugov with a hard left hook that snaps the Russian’s head. Tukhugov responded by shooting a takedown. But Dawodu was too good on the defensive and stuffed the attempt. With a little more than one minute to go in the fight Tukhugov’s face began to show damage. Dawodu showed effective striking by landing a left body hook-right hand upstairs combination. A big, cracking right hand landed for Dawodu late in the round. As the fight was winding down, Dawodu began to yell at Tukhugov at one point yelling, “Stop running! Let’s fucking fight!” The referee reprimanded Dawodu for swearing, but it’s hard to blame Dawodu considering Tukhugov’s lack of willingness to engage as he did very little in the round but evade.

Seattle Fights round score – 10-9 Dawodu (clear round for Dawodu)

Official Decision – split decision win for Dawodu (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)