Hakeem Dawodu has parents from different ethnic heritage. He suffered plenty of adversity in his childhood but made it through and established himself among the top fighters.
MMA fighter Hakeem Dawodu is currently one of the best in the business, with an incredible record.
However, many fans are unaware of his background and the struggles he had to overcome in his childhood.
Hakeem Tyrone Dawodu is a 35-year-old MMA fighter from Calgary, Canada. Dawodu excels in the style of Muay Thai and Kickboxing.
Moreover, he started fighting out of the World Series of Fighting in Canada. The youngster maintained an unbeaten record.
In 2017, he signed with the UFC and still fights under elite promotion. Hakeem competes in the Featherweight division and has recorded one performance of the night.
Furthermore, he is a champion of Intercontinental Welterweight Champion of the World Muay Thai Council—and Super Lightweight Champion of the Pan-American Muay Thai Union.
Who Are The Parents Of Hakeem Dawodu?
The UFC fighter comes from a very disturbed parenting background. His parents had when his mother was just 14, and his father was 19.
Hakeem Dawodu’s father is from Jamaica, and his mother is Nigerian. However, none of their names are out in the public.
When Hakeem was just 6, the Canadian government deported his father back to Jamaica, forcing his mother to raise him alone.
Moreover, his mother had him when she was unmarried. Because of that, his religious grandmother kicked his mother out of her home.
So her mother had to take care of young Hakeem while being homeless herself.
“My mom did the best she could do raising me, she’s a strong woman,” he says.
Hakeem often visited his dad in Jamaica when he was a kid. His father was a track athlete, and he inherited his father’s athletic genes.
Furthermore, his grandfather, back in Jamaica, was a fighter. He often visited his dad as a kid and was inspired by his grandfather’s stories.
Currently, Hakeem has a good relationship with his mother, who lives in Calgary. However, he is not in touch with his dad.
The UFC Fighter Had A Rough Childhood
Hakeem Dawodu had a comparatively very troublesome childhood. From foster home to juvenile center, he lived it all.
Despite growing up without a dad, Dawood instilled a leadership mentality and moved out at a young age. He lived in a pre-foster center at 14 and tried to find odd jobs to make money.
Moreover, he was a kid with a short temper and would rather throw hands than talk it out. He also put into an anger-management program, which he hated.
Dawodu struggled to find the right path, he got into drug dealing, theft, and home invasion.
The Canadian fighter served time at the juvenile detention center. But this experience changed Hakeem’s life, as he would soon get into martial arts following the suggestion of his probation officer.
“My probation officer made a deal with me. She said why don’t you try martial arts, and I can write it off as anger management?” he confessed.
