A professional since 2014, he has compiled a record of 8-1-1 (win-loss-draw).
Hakeem Dawodu was born on 2nd July 1991, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to Jamaican father and 14-year old mother from Nigeria. His star sign is Cancer. As per nationality, he is a Canadian and belongs to mixed ethnicity.
When Dawodu was six years old, his dad was deported, forcing his mom to raise him on her own. He has a troubled childhood, as he was first placed in a juvenile detention center at his 14. Later two years, his counselor enrolled him Muay Thai training as a means of controlling his anger.
Prior to starting MMA career, Dawodu’s background is in kickboxing, where he compiled 41-5 as an amateur and 9-0 as a professional.
On 21st February 2014, Dawodu made his professional debut at WSOF Canada 1 against Behrang Yousefi. He won the fight via KO in round one. Subsequently, he won following two bouts against Jake Macdonald and Mike Malott at WSOF Canada 2 and WSOF 14 respectively.
In 2015, Dawodu had total three fights. He defeated Tristan Johnson and Chuka Willis at WSOF 18 and 21 but draw with Marat Magomedov. On 30th June 2016, he faced Marat Magomedov for the second time but this time he marked his victory over him in round two at WSOF 32.
On 18th March 2017, Dawodu won a fight against Steven Siler at WSOF 35 in round three via unanimous decision.
On 11th November 2017, Dawodu signed a four-year fight deal with UFC. The following year on 17th March, he made his UFC debut against Danny Henry at UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Volkov where he got defeated via submission in the fight’s opening minutes.
Rebounding from loss, Dawodu return to fight at UFC on Fox: Alvarez vs. Poirier 2, where he faced Austin Arnett, on 28th July 2018. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Dawodu is scheduled to fight against Kyle Bochniak on December 8, 2018, at UFC 231.
Till the date, there is no news and rumors regarding the fighter having a romantic love affair. It seems that Hakken prefers his personal life private and far from media attention. As of now, he is possibly single and unmarried.
Talking about his physique, Dawodu stands 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs around 66 Kg.
As of 2018, his net worth is reported around $270,000. Despite a loss in his first UFC fight, Dawodu took home $10,000 show cash plus $3,500 fight week incentives pay. Likewise, he earned total $23,000 including win bonus through his second UFC fight.
Also, Dawodu made good sum while fighting at WSOF.