Movsar Evloev vs. Hakeem Dawodu booked for UFC 263

A tilt between a pair of streaking featherweights is headed to UFC 263 this summer.

Undefeated Movsar Evloev (14-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is set to take on Hakeem Dawodu (12-1-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) at UFC 263. People with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie on Tuesday. The people asked to remain anonymous since the UFC has yet to make a formal announcement of the fight, which first was reported by MMA DNA.

UFC 263 takes place June 12. A venue and location has not yet been announced, but for the bulk of the pandemic era the UFC has held events either at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas or on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi. The main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims expected for ESPN and ESPN+.

Evloev stayed unbeaten in January when he took a split decision from Nik Lentz at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi. After a 10-0 start to his career under the M-1 banner, where he won the bantamweight title, Evloev came to the UFC in 2019 and moved to featherweight. His first four bouts in the UFC have been decision wins.

After three years with WSOF, Dawodu came to the UFC in 2018 and was choked out by Danny Henry in 39 seconds in his promotional debut. But it’s been all upward since then with five straight wins. After a pair of decisions over Austin Arnett and Kyle Bochniak, Dawodu picked up a performance bonus with a head kick knockout of Yoshinori Horie at UFC 240. Since then, he has two more wins – both by split decision – against Julio Arce and Zubaira Tukhugov, the latter of which came this past September on “Fight Island.”

With the addition, the UFC 263 lineup now includes:

• Champ Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno – for flyweight title
• Jake Collier vs. Carlos Felipe
• Luigi Vendramini vs. Fares Ziam
• Hakeem Dawodu vs. Movsar Evloev