ZIPLINE IS LATEST CHALLENGE FOR ADVENTUROUS UFC FIGHTERS
Mixed martial arts has allowed local pair to travel the world, chase their dreams
At the tender age of 16, Hakeem Dawodu had hit rock bottom.
“I’d been kicked out of every school I went to for fighting,” he says of his wayward early days. “I couldn’t control my anger and ended up in a juvenile detention centre.”
These days, the now 27-yearold is flying high thanks to his career as a mixed martial arts fighter. “I’ve spent the past few years travelling all over the world, making a living at something I love,” says Dawodu, who joined the pro ranks of mixed martial arts in 2012, eventually signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in late-2017.
On Monday morning, Dawodu is once again flying high, but this time not just figuratively, as he and fellow UFC fighter Jordan Mein prepare to travel a good 42 metres up in the air on the tallest and most multi-point zipline in North America.
The two are on the grounds of the Calgary Stampede for a day of fun that also includes promoting their upcoming appearances at a Calgary UFC event at the Scotiabank Saddledome on July 28 (for tickets and info, go to ufc.ca).
“Never done a zipline before,” says Dawodu as we walk past countless food kiosks toward the starting point of the zipline that moves at up to 50 km/ h. “Man, this sucks, all this great food and I can’t eat any. I’ve had to lose some weight before my match, so I’m on a special diet.”
Mein, a native of Lethbridge who now lives in Calgary, admits to being a bit afraid. “I am pretty nervous,” says the 28-year-old when we arrive at the entrance of the zipline and someone hands him a waiver to sign. “It’s a pretty high climb just to get up there.”
It’s amusing that both are scared of a little ziplining, considering the circles they move in. As competitors on the Las Vegas-based UFC circuit — one of the largest mixed martial arts promotions in the world and a multibillion-dollar brand — these two see more kicks and punches in their direction in a week than most of us will see in a lifetime.
Disclosure: as someone who covered her eyes for most of the 1999 film Fight Club, I have never watched a UFC match. I do know, however, that they take place in a cage-like contraption called the Octagon, using moves from boxing, karate, wrestling and many other martial arts disciplines.
For Dawodu, a few important people helped changed his life’s path from jailed teen to a world travelling pro athlete.
“My probation officer suggested I try Muay Thai,” says the unbelievably fit young man.
“That’s when I met Mike Miles, who not only taught me how to fight but about respect and controlling my emotions.”
Soon Dawodu, who was raised by a single mom in Ramsay, Forest Lawn and Marlborough, was proving his mettle as an amateur Muay Thai competitor. “I had a world title, but I wasn’t making much money,” he says. So, in 2017, he went over to UFC.
Today, his mom Motola is proud of him, though “she looks away a lot when I’m fighting.” With a career span that usually ends at around age 38, Dawodu hopes to one day open his own gym.
For Jordan Mein, the gym has been home for as long as he can remember. “I started competing in kick-boxing when I was four,” says Mein, whose dad Lee Mein is also a mixed martial artist who runs his own gym, the Canadian Martial Arts Centre, in Lethbridge. “I turned pro at 16.”
Like Dawodu, Mein says the life of a UFC fighter is a dream come true. “I have been all over the United States, Europe and Australia,” he says, noting his only injury so far from the tough sport is a broken orbital (around the eye) bone. “The fighting is just the cherry on top.”
For the single dad of a 20-month-old girl, the decent pay also doesn’t hurt. “You can make $100,000 on a good year,” he says with a smile. “It’s a great life.”
After we chat, the two friends take the zipline together. While it wasn’t an ordeal, says Dawodu with a laugh, it wasn’t a walk in the park, either.
“When I got to the top, I felt the pre-match jitters,” he says just after getting back on terra firma. “And my legs won’t stop shaking.”
Still, they’re glad for the frightening but exhilarating experience. “It was fun,” says Mein with a smile. “But I’m not sure I’d do it again.”
That’s when I met Mike Miles, who not only taught me how to fight but about respect and controlling my emotions.