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SODIQ YUSUFF OUT TO SOLIDIFY HIS STANDING AT UFC 300
Ranked Featherweight Discusses Quick Return, Pairing With Diego Lopes This Weekend
A six-month gap between fights is pretty standard for most and would feel like an eternity for active competitors like Neil Magny and Loopy Godinez, but for Sodiq Yusuff, returning to action this weekend at UFC 300 is a welcome change in a career filled with extended absences.
“I was worried because I thought I would need surgery on my shoulder, but once they told me it wouldn’t require surgery, it was just about doing rehab and being as fast as possible,” began Yusuff when asked about the comparatively quick turnaround for him heading into Saturday’s preliminary card clash with Diego Lopes. “As you guys know, my career has been stuck with a lot of long breaks from injuries and sickness, so it was the worst news I was expecting when I felt how bad the shoulder was.
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“Once they told me, it became as good as it could be.”
A standout on the second season of Dana White’s Contender Series, the 30-year-old featherweight has logged just eight starts in his roughly six years on the roster, having made just a single appearance in three of the last four years.
COVID knocked him out for a long stretch in 2020, and he went almost a year between fights following his return in 2021 before registering a pair of wins in 2022 to rebuild some momentum, only to be forced to deal with a pair of herniated discs in his back, which prompted another full-year layoff.
Yusuff finally returned last October, paired off with veteran Edson Barboza in his first main event assignment, and in the very early stages of the contest, it seemed poised to end promptly and in his favor.
He was all over the Brazilian veteran out of the gates, stinging him with heavy punches and putting him on the deck roughly 30 seconds into the contest, swarming in search of the finish. He ratcheted up the pressure and continued to land big shots, but could not put the battle-hardened Barboza away, and at the start of the second, the veteran began rallying back.
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“To be honest, although it wasn’t a win, I still took away a lot of good stuff from it, a lot of technical stuff, both positive and negative, that I could work on fixing,” Yusuff said of the fight with Barboza, which he lost by unanimous decision, despite the strong start. “Being in there 25 minutes is different. No matter what anybody says, everything comes with experience, and the experience of being in there doing 25 (minutes) was a huge bonus for me.
“It’s more having comfort for fighting that long,” he answered when asked to expand on his previous answer. “Human beings aren’t meant to fight for 25 minutes, so finding comfort in being able to have a fist fight for 25 minutes makes having 15 (minutes) a little less jarring.”
Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, Yusuff and Lopes lock up in a fascinating featherweight clash that is sure to entertain, and this time, it’s the proud Nigerian, who provides the voice for the character Sunday Adelekan in the Disney + series Iwájú, that will be the veteran half of the pairing.
Lopes burst onto the scene last year, turning a short-notice opportunity against unbeaten and ranked Russian Movsar Evloev into his introduction to the audience before registering back-to-back fast finishes against Gavin Tucker and Pat Sabatini to close out his impressive rookie campaign.
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“He has a lot of popularity from the Brazilian and the Mexican side,” Yusuff said of Lopes, who is Brazilian, but lives and trains in Mexico, working with the team at the Lobo Gym, and is beloved for his signature hairstyle, which can only be described as a Bieber-esque swoop in the front with surprising length in the back. “That wasn’t something I was expecting at all, and then I watched the fight and saw the online noise.
“As a fighter, he’s okay — he has decent boxing and really good jiu jitsu,” he added, getting into his analysis of what he’s seen from his impending opponent. “Before the UFC, the competition really wasn’t there, and even in the UFC, it’s one-dimensional strikers or grapplers.”
Sodiq Yusuff Fight Week Interview | UFC 300
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Sodiq Yusuff Fight Week Interview | UFC 300
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It’s a fair assessment in terms of who he’s faced, and outlines what makes this weekend’s pairing between the two so intriguing.
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Despite having made just eight trips into the Octagon, wins over Gabriel Benitez, Andre Fili, and Alex Caceres have secured Yusuff residence in the Top 15 for the last couple years, and his setbacks have come against quality competition, with Arnold Allen being the only other man to best him under the UFC banner prior to his loss to Barboza.
And while Lopes has looked outstanding while storming through a pair of unranked opponents in Tucker and Sabatini, the competition is steeper when you try to break into the rankings, and Yusuff represents the type of well-rounded, experienced, and dangerous step up in competition many were looking for the Brazilian to have to begin his sophomore campaign.
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There isn’t a ton of upside to this fight for “Super Sodiq,” but he’s keen on using this opportunity to solidify his place in the divisional hierarchy and enjoy taking part in such an historic event this weekend.
“I haven’t been on a card outside of the APEX in almost four years now, so it’s dope to be back out in the field,” he said the asked about being a part of Saturday’s tricentennial at T-Mobile Arena. “I know they were trying to stack this card with everybody they see value in, so I was like, ‘That means they see value in me.’
“It just solidifies my spot,” Yusuff answered when asked what a win over Lopes does for him going forward, fully aware of the situation he’s stepping into this weekend. “The people that know, know — they know the type of fighter that I am — and beating Diego just solidifies that.”
*Maddyn Johnstone-Thomas and McKenzie Pavacich contributed to this story.
UFC 300: Pereira vs Hill took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 13, 2024. See the final Prelim and Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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