Cub Swanson admitted he walked to the center of the octagon at the end of his UFC on ESPN 51 co-main event with Hakeem Dawodu expecting a loss.
Instead, all three judges gave Swanson (29-13 MMA, 14-9 UFC) two of three rounds on the scorecards, and he left the fight with a unanimous decision win over Dawodu (14-3-1 MMA, 6-4 UFC) in the featherweight bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Coachella Valley, STAND UP!! 🌴@CubSwanson is walking away with the victory tonight! #UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/Z1uzMzTFu5
— UFC (@ufc) August 13, 2023
Dawodu seemingly landed the better shots in the first and seconds rounds, bloodying Swanson’s face and carrying the momentum. In the third round, Swanson landed a big takedown and tried to threaten with submissions, but he ran out of time.
The conclusive feeling was Swanson made an admirable late push, but it wouldn’t be enough. Then he wasn’t announced as the winner, which came after he had already congratulated Dawodu and his team.
Cub Swanson got emotional following his unanimous decision win at #UFCVegas78 🥺 pic.twitter.com/kS1Tb16MXz
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 13, 2023
Nevertheless, Swanson got his 14th victory in UFC featherweight competition, which trails only Max Holloway (19) and Darren Elkins (18) in divisional history.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 51 results include:
- Cub Swanson def. Hakeem Dawodu via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Khalil Rountree def. Chris Daukaus via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:40
- Iasmin Lucindo vs. Polyana Viana via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:42
- AJ Dobson def. Tafon Nchukwi via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Josh Fremd def. Jamie Pickett via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Marcus McGhee def. JP Buys via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:19
- Terrence McKinney def. Mike Breeden via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:25
- Isaac Dulgarian def. Francis Marshall via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:48
- Martin Buday def. Josh Parisian via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 4:11
- Jaqueline Amorim def. Montserrat Conejo via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:41
- Da’Mon Blackshear def. Jose Johnson via submission (twister) – Round 1, 3:47
- Luana Santos def. Juliana Miller via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:41
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
