Power puncher Brunno Ferreira took on technician Phil Hawes on the UFC Vegas 84 main card.
Hawes has been known for a long time as an enormously talented fighter whose chin fails him at bad times. As a result he has been knocked out in all but one of his career losses, including all of his UFC defeats. After two back-to-back outings that ended that way, Brunno Ferreira presented yet another fighter who could exploit Hawes’ fatal flaw. Ferriera has won all of his pro bouts by finish, mostly by knockout. The short, stocky middleweight raised eyebrows when he debuted by knocking out high level fighter Gregory Rodrigues last year. After losing his undefeated record in his next outing, the Brazilian looked to regain a winning record with the UFC to start 2024.
Hawes stalked forward to start the first round, Brunno swung counter hooks so hard he frequently threw himself off balance. Ferreira ended up being the first one to shoot a takedown, which Phil easily got out of. They traded for a while, until Ferreria went for a lat drop takedown and got on top of Hawes in side control. He did some damage to Hawes and controlled him for two minutes before exploding with punches, which allowed Phil to stand up. Their boxing skills were well-matched. Hawes was more methodical and mechanical while Ferreira used his explosivity in awkward ways.
With one minute left Brunno Ferreira landed a flying knee which rocked Phil Hawes. He went after him and tried to finish him, then went for another lat drop, which Hawes defended. By retreating and being defensive Phil Hawes was able to seemingly recover somewhat, but then with ten seconds left he got dropped suddenly. Ferreira jumped on top of him and put him unconscious with the first shot, but still landed two more before the referee pushed him fully away.
