Julian Erosa out-classes Hakeem Dawodu at UFC 279, 5-1 since returning to the UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, September 10, 2022, for UFC 279, going down live on pay-per-view from the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
Considering former main eventer Khamzat Chimaev (11-0) missed weight by 7.5 lbs, weighing in at 178.5 lbs despite the 171 lb limit, we had a bit of a change in match ups.
The Ultimate Fighter 5 winner Nate Diaz (20-13) was initially slated to face no. 3 ranked Chimaev in the main event but will now face former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson (25-7) in the five round main event of the evening.
Co-headlining the event was supposed to be Ferguson facing no. 14 ranked welterweight contender Li Jingliang (19-7), and Daniel Rodriguez (16-2) was slated against Kevin Holland (23-7-0-1).
In the aftermath of this, Chimaev will face Holland in the five round co-main event of the evening, and Rodriguez will face Jingliang in tonight’s feature fight, marking the first time ever the UFC put on an event with two five round non-title bouts.
Headlining the preliminary card tonight was a featherweight contest between Hakeem Dawodu (13-2-1), who missed weight by 3.5 lbs himself, and Julian Erosa (27-9). Dawodu has gone 6-2 thus far into his UFC tenure, while Erosa has gone 4-1 in this third stint of his with the promotion.
Continue reading to see how this catchweight bout went down:
Official Result: Julian Erosa def. Hakeem Dawodu via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Dawodu is looking very sharp early on. He lands a nice head kick, which is caught by Erosa, as he’s forced off balance.
Erosa hurts Dawodu with a nasty right hand midway through the round and continues to pick the kickboxing champion (42-5 amateur, 9-0 professional) apart throughout the remainder of it, hurting him badly with another right hand toward the end of the round.
Dawodu comes out even sharper to start the second and begins to land some nice combinations, but Erosa is still in it. Erosa secures a takedown with two minutes left however and immediately takes Dawodu’s back and holds the position in search of a submission until the final 10 seconds or so of the round.
After a good start to each round, Dawodu is down two going into the third. Erosa continues to out-class Dawodu for the final five minutes for a very impressive performance tonight at UFC 279.
Julian Erosa didn’t show how good of a fighter he was during his first two stints with the UFC, going 1-1 in his freshman effort (one split decision win, one KO loss), 0-3 as a sophomore (one unanimous decision loss, two KO losses), but he’s gone 5-1 since returning to the UFC in June of 2020.
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