Hakeem Dawodu’s UFC debut did not go as planned.
The Canadian was rocked with a right cross then submitted with a guillotine choke by Scotland’s Danny Henry in just 39 seconds Saturday at a UFC Fight Night event in London, England.
The loss was the first of Dawodu’s mixed martial arts career. He’s now 7-1-1 as a professional. The 26-year-old Calgary native had quite a bit of hype behind him prior to his first Octagon appearance, especially since he had been training in Dublin with Conor McGregor’s SBG Ireland team.
Meanwhile, Henry (12-2) extended his winning streak to five and is a name to keep an eye on in the featherweight division.
“I know I can hit hard, I’m big for the weight [class], I’m rangy, I’m long, I’m dangerous and I’ll do this over and over again,” Henry told UFC commentator Dan Hardy in the cage after the bout. “I didn’t expect a fast finish to be honest with you. Hakeem’s a tough kid. He’s from an excellent Thai boxing background. But he’s still a bit too Thai boxing orientated from what I’ve seen and I knew if I mixed it up I might be able to catch him in something and, well, it just so happened I caught him quick.
“When I punched my arm through [to lock in the choke], I felt like my hand was to the ceiling and I usually get them. As soon as that hand’s facing the sky, I squeeze that neck and I cash that cheque.”
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