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MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month for October: Roman Dolidze flattens Phil Hawes

and mma junkie staff
·4 min read
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With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from October 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for October.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

Nominees

Nominee: Pete Rodriguez def. Mike Jackson at UFC Fight Night 212

[autotag]Pete Rodriguez[/autotag] (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) handed [autotag]Mike Jackson[/autotag] (1-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) his first knockout loss in devastating fashion.

Rodriguez opened with a vicious flurry on Jackson in their welterweight bout. He hurt his opponent early, and then put Jackson away with an absolutely nasty knee to the jaw that put the lights out.

Nominee: Alonzo Menifield def. Misha Cirkunov at UFC Fight Night 212

[autotag]Alonzo Menifield[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) changed camps and walked out with one man in his corner, but it didn’t matter because he was able to put the finishing touches on Misha Cirkunov (15-9 MMA, 6-7 UFC) in quick fashion.

It was a devastating shot from Menifield that left Cirkunov laying on the canvas for a few moments in the light heavyweight bout. Menifield scored the knockdown, then closed the show with some gruesome hammerfists.

Nominee: Jonathan Martinez def. Cub Swanson at UFC Fight Night 212

It’s not often a UFC fight ends because of leg kicks. The fact [autotag]Jonathan Martinez[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) did it against a UFC Hall of Famer in Cub Swanson (28-13 MMA, 13-9 UFC) made it all the more impressive.

Martinez finished Swanson with a second-round TKO that came after he landed three kicks to Swanson’s left leg. The first two put Swanson down temporarily. The third was enough to end things late in the second round of the bantamweight bout.

Nominee: Belal Muhammad def. Sean Brady at UFC 280

In case anyone forgot [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag]’s (22-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) name, perhaps they’ll remember now after he took the undefeated record of Sean Brady (15-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in their high-stakes welterweight bout.

Muhammad’s pressure was apparent from the opening bell as he tried to close the distance on his opponent. Brady’s response was leg kicks and jabs, both of which worked but were unable to halt Muhammad’s pressure completely. Muhammad blasted Sean Brady with dozens of punches leading to a standing TKO in the second round.

The winner

The winner: Roman Dolidze def. Phil Hawes at UFC Fight Night 213

[autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag] first damaged the leg of Phil Hawes before landing shots to the head for a savage knockout.

In a sequence near the start of the middleweight bout at the UFC Apex, Dolidze (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) got Hawes (12-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in a nasty leg lock that appears to pop the knee out. The fight continued, though, and turned into a striking affair.

That played huge to Dolidze’s advantage, because he waited for his moment to pick the shots and land a clean combination that floored Hawes and put the lights out.

With five wins in six UFC appearances so far, Dolidze said he’s ready for the next level of competition. He said Hawes was a respectable foe, but he wants more the next time he steps in the cage.

“That’s how it is,” Dolidze told Michael Bisping in his post-fight interview. “If you don’t tap, I knock you out. … These guys don’t understand who I am. They need to give me better fights.”

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Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie