The second time was the charm for Phil Hawes.
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 Khadzhi Bestaev (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:
NO HYPE 😤 Phil Hawes just detonated on #DWCS 💥 pic.twitter.com/1zSavpfH2A
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 9, 2020
DWCS 32 took place Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streamed on ESPN+.
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