It’s been a long time coming for Chris Curtis.
The UFC welterweight made plenty of noise in his promotional debut, stopping heavy-favorite Phil Hawes in the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC 268 in New York City. Curtis (27-8 MMA, 1-0 UFC) stopped Hawes at the 4:27 mark of Round 1.
It was a showing where Curtis was being dominated by Hawes, who looked very sharp early on. For the majority of the bout, Hawes kept connecting and having his way on Curtis with little resistance. In the last minute of the round, Curtis connected with a left hand that wobbled Hawes. He then followed up with a few shots to put away the 32-year-old.
With the victory, Curtis now finds himself on a six-fight winning streak. The last time he was defeated was back in 2019 when he was stopped by two-time PFL champion Ray Cooper III.
Below you can watch Curtis finish:
ACTION MAN WITH THE SUPERHERO STRENGTH 💪
[ #UFC268 | Prelims are LIVE on ESPNews & ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/54gmyUFdck
— UFC (@ufc) November 7, 2021
After the fight, Curtis was overcome with emotion, given his long road to the UFC. The 34-year-old veteran of 35 fights finally got his chance to shine on the big stage and capitalized on the opportunity.
"10 YEARS BABY!!!"
Chris Curtis' emotions poured out after getting a big KO in his long-awaited UFC debut.#UFC268 | Full results: https://t.co/HzLkrciFVg pic.twitter.com/CcPRB0FGEZ
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) November 7, 2021
Up-to-the-minute UFC 268 results include:
- Chris Curtis def. Phil Hawes via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:27
- Nassourdine Imavov def. Edmen Shahbazyan via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:42
- Ian Garry def. Jordan Williams via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:59
- Chris Barnett def. Gian Villante via TKO (spinning kick) – Round 2, 2:23
- Dustin Jacoby def. John Allan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Melsik Baghdasaryan def. Bruno Souza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ode Osbourne def. CJ Vergara via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
