Shane Burgos and Hakeem Dawodu will face off in featherweight fight at UFC 257

A featherweight matchup between Shane Burgos and Hakeem Dawodu has been added to the UFC 257 fight card. UFC 257 is scheduled to take place on January 23rd, 2021.

The news regarding the Shane Burgos vs. Hakeem Dawodu fight was first broken by MMA Empire and has now been confirmed by MMA Junkie.

Shane Burgos and Hakeem Dawodu aim to ascend to the upper echelons in the featherweight division

Shane Burgos and Hakeem Dawodu are up-and-coming talents in the UFC featherweight division. Both are 29 years of age and have garnered significant praise for their well-rounded MMA skill-sets.

Burgos’ last fight was a unanimous decision loss to Josh Emmett in June of this year. Meanwhile, Dawodu’s last fight was a split decision victory over Zubaira Tukhugov in September.

A win in their featherweight bout at UFC 257 would help Burgos or Dawodu to ascend to the upper echelons of the division, whereas a loss would prove to be detrimental.

The UFC featherweight title is currently held by Alexander Volkanovski who - it is speculated - could be facing Brian Ortega in his next title defense.

Burgos and Dawodu are aiming for gold in the 145-pound division, and with a few good wins in the top-ten, they could work their way to the featherweight title in the years to come.

What is @HurricaneShaneB's chin made out of? 😱 #UFCVegas3 pic.twitter.com/p61A3roztm

— UFC (@ufc) June 21, 2020

HOW ABOUT MEAN HAKEEM?! 😤Hakeem Dawodu gave it the Max Holloway signal and then landed a huge right hand 🔥 #UFC253 pic.twitter.com/0TBav3G4NG

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) September 27, 2020

UFC 257 is likely to be one of the biggest events of 2021

UFC 257 will feature the rematch between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor is regarded as one of the greatest combat sports competitors in the world. On the other hand, Dustin Poirier is a great fighter in his own right, having previously held the interim UFC lightweight title.

Prior to either fighter capturing UFC gold, McGregor and Poirier faced one another in a featherweight bout back in September of 2014. The Notorious One beat Poirier via first-round TKO in that fight.

The vast majority of MMA fans and experts believe that McGregor and Poirier have both improved in leaps and bounds since their first fight. This, in turn, has led to an even greater interest in the combat sports world as to how a rematch between McGregor and Poirier would turn out.

What are your thoughts on UFC 257, Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier, and Shane Burgos vs. Hakeem Dawodu? Sound off in the comments.