Tag: Phil Hawes

Phil Hawes aiming for the top after earning UFC contract: ‘I came to this sport to be a champion’

With Phil Hawes finally living up to his potential, his only goal is to keep moving forward in search of a UFC title.

LAS VEGAS – With [autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag] finally living up to his potential, his goal is to only keep moving forward.

The highly touted prospect fell short on two attempts, once on “The Ultimate Fighter” and once on Dana White’s Contender Series 4 back in 2017. But the third time proved to be the charm as he earned the most spectacular win of the night at Dana White’s Contender Series 32.

Hawes (8-2) impressed with a stunning 78-second TKO of Khadzhi Bestaev (10-4) Tuesday night to earn a UFC contract after registering a brutal finish at the UFC Apex.

“It’s awesome to get a contract, but I don’t want to get too excited,” Hawes told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after his win. “I came to this sport to be a world champion, and that’s what I’m looking to do.”

While he finally realized his dream of reaching the UFC, Hawes said he doesn’t want to get complacent. Currently riding a four-fight winning streak, he came through the matchup relatively unscathed and said that he’s ready for a quick turnaround as he looks to continue his evolution in the sport.

“(I’d like to fight) as soon as possible,” Hawes said. “The one thing I want to do is I want to make sure I’m getting better in my time off, whatever it is. It could be three, four weeks, I just want to make sure I’m better than what you saw tonight.”

To hear more from Hawes, check out the video above.

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Video: UFC hopeful Phil Hawes crumples DWCS 32 opponent, scores 78-second TKO

Three years after his first DWCS appearance, Phil Hawes redeemed himself with a major TKO.

The second time was the charm for [autotag]Phil Hawes[/autotag].

After a failed attempt on Dana White’s Contender Series, Season 1, Hawes (8-2) made his second appearance on the series Tuesday.

Over three years after his first DWCS fight, Hawes redeemed himself. Taking on American Kickboxing Academy’s [autotag]Khadzhi Bestaev[/autotag] (10-4), Hawes picked up a 78-second TKO victory in brutal fashion.

A strong wrestler, Hawes had Bestaev thinking about takedowns – noticeably so. Bestaev, a 6’6″ middleweight, held his hands low. Hawes flipped the script, however, landing hard leg kicks that threw Bestaev off balance.

The finishing combination started off with a hard right hand that floored Bestaev. From there, Hawes pounced. Heavy ground-and-pound rained down, leaving Chris Tognoni no option but to waive off the fight.

Check out Phil Hawes’ TKO of Khadzhi Bestaev in the video clip below:

DWCS 32 took place Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streamed on ESPN+.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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