5 Defining Moments: Sodiq Yusuff

Sodiq Yusuff has future contender written all over him.

The 30-year-old Team Lloyd Irvin product will look to improve upon a 6-1 record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship when he meets Edson Barboza in the UFC Fight Night 230 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Yusuff steps back into the spotlight on the strength of back-to-back victories. He last competed at UFC Fight Night 211, where he needed just 30 seconds to submit Don Shainis with a guillotine choke on Oct. 1, 2022.

As Yusuff maps out his return from a yearlong layoff, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him:

1. Slight Miscalculation

Luis Gomez captured the vacant Titan Fighting Championship featherweight crown when he disposed of Yusuff with punches in the first round of their TFC 47 headliner on Dec. 15, 2017 at Xtreme Action Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The end came 4:12 into Round 1. Yusuff connected with clean one-twos, rattled the American Top Team rep more than once with left hooks upstairs and shrugged off a few takedown attempts. To his credit, Gomez stayed composed under considerable fire. He staggered Yusuff with a right hook, engaged him in the clinch and executed a beautiful arm-drag takedown. Gomez followed up with punches on his prone adversary and continued to fire away until referee Jorge Alonso had seen enough. It remains the only stoppage loss of Yusuff’s career.

2. Meal Ticket

Damaging leg kicks and crisp punching combinations carried Yusuff to a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Mike Davis during Season 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series on July 24, 2018 at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges struck 30-27 scorecards. Davis showed flashes of brilliance but was confronted with an uphill climb after a difficult first round. Yusuff rocked him with an overhand right, floored him with a compact left hook and swarmed for a potential finish. Worse for Davis, Yusuff tore into him with a steady stream of calf kicks to the lead leg. By the third round, he was hobbled and had no choice but to switch stances—a move that allowed him to survive but also took him out of his comfort zone. The performance resulted in Yusuff being signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

3. Breaking Ground

Yusuff dazzled in his promotional debut when he put away Suman Mokhtarian with punches in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 142 featherweight showcase on Dec. 1, 2018 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Australia. Mokhtarian succumbed to blows 2:14 into Round 1, as he suffered his first setback as a pro. Yusuff rang the Australian’s bell with collar-tie punches at the start, softened him with knees from the clinch and then struck from a distance. A multi-punch combination had Mokhtarian reeling, as he retreated backward and leaned against the fence. Sensing the end was near, Yusuff cut loose with power punches to the body and head, and while several shots missed the mark, referee Greg Kleynjans had seen enough to warrant the stoppage.

4. A Place at the Table

The once-beaten Yusuff cemented himself as a person of interest at 15 pounds when he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Team Alpha Male’s Andre Fili as part of the UFC 246 undercard on Jan. 18, 2020 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three members of the judiciary scored it 29-28 for the Lloyd Irvin protégé. Yusuff unleashed power punches from both hands in the first round, withstood an exchange in which both men were hurt and threatened the Californian with a kimura. He caught a kick from Fili in the middle stanza, assumed top position and operated between half guard, side control and full mount. Yusuff ran out of steam late but managed to cling to his lead. Fili switched from orthodox to southpaw in Round 3, flummoxed his opponent with aggression and pace, all while benefiting from a noticeable slowdown from the talented Nigeria native.

5. Too Little Too Late

Arnold Allen moved another step toward contention at 145 pounds when he took a unanimous decision from Yusuff in their UFC on ABC 2 featherweight co-main event on April 10, 2021 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28. Allen authored the bout’s two signature moments, as he floored the surging prospect with a counter left hand in the first round—the Tristar Gym export also completed two takedowns in the period—and staggered him with a head kick in the second. Yusuff survived both brushes with adversity and took advantage of the Englishman’s move to a more conservative approach in Round 3. He outlanded Allen by an eye-popping 31-2 margin across the final five minutes but never managed to put himself in position to produce the finish he needed.