Damir Hadzovic earned his third career UFC win and second career finish in the promotion, after defeating Polo Reyes via TKO in the second round at UFC Prague.
Damir Hadzovic, a body-builder prior to his MMA career, is 2-2 in the UFC thus far. He joined the promotion on a six-fight win streak with a 10-2 record, but was greeted by the dynamic Mairbek Taisumov, who knocked him out in the first round. The Bosnian responded with a Performance of the Night-worthy knee KO against respected grappler Marcin Held. Hadzovic most recently bounced back from a loss to Alan Patrick by defeating Nick Hein by split decision in July.
Polo Reyes was a contestant on the second season of TUF: Latin America, going 1-1 on the show with a second-round knockout. Reyes had a great start to his UFC career with a first-round knockout that earned him a Performance of the Night, followed by a Fight of the Year candidate with Dong Hyun Ma that he won by third-round KO. After a loss to James Vick stopped his three-fight win streak in the Octagon, Reyes bounced back with a 60-second knockout last January that earned him his second Performance of the Night bonus. Unfortunately, he is coming off a six-month suspension from USADA.
The fight began with Damir Hadzovic controlling the center of the Octagon, while both fighters traded kicks and worked to find their range. As the action picked up, Reyes looked like the fighter who found his comfort zone first. Mixing up his strikes, Reyes began to pressure Hadzovic, eating some jabs along the way. The ranged striking battle was taken to the ground with around a minute left in round one, as Hadzovic landed a strong takedown and controlled the fight for the remainder of the first stanza.
The second round began like the first ended, with Hadzovic taking Reyes to the ground with a trip in the clinch. Reyes worked hard on the ground, but Hadzovic wasn’t giving any ground. After taking mount and more ground control, Reyes was eventually forced to cover up and absorb a barrage of ground-strikes from Hadzovic before the referee stepped in.
Hadzovic earned his third win in the UFC, and his second finish in the promotion. An impressive and mature performance from the Bosnian ensured we’ll see more of him in the Octagon in 2019.
Damir Hadzovic def. Polo Reyes via TKO (Punches) in Round 2 (2:03)
