Watch: The gruesome knee injury that led to Phil Hawes getting brutally knocked out at UFC Vegas 63

Roman Dolidze brutally knocked Phil Hawes out on October 29, 2022, on UFC Vegas 63. The bout took place at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, on Saturday night. In just his sixth fight in the UFC, Dolidze dealt the American a brutal knee injury that rendered him almost immobile, which subsequently led to him being brutally knocked out.

Hawes had the Georgian on the ground for two and a half minutes in the first round but quickly found himself on the receiving end of some nasty elbows. Dolidze showed great skill in putting his opponent into full guard and then hitting him with hard elbows from his back. In a desperate attempt, Hawes tried to get out of the full guard and got caught in an armbar.

Take a look at the video:

Phil Hawes managed to free his arm, but Roman Dolidze switched to his leg and caught him with a leg lock. The Georgian then had his entire body weight on the American's right leg and twisted it past the regular flexion of the knee. Hawes' knee completely gave out and even Dolidze seemed concerned as he stopped fighting and pointed to his opponent's knee.

The American tried to tough it out and kept fighting, however, with one of his knees gone, there was very little he could do. Dolidze put pressure on him and knocked him out in the first round itself.

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Aljamain Sterling reacts to Phil Hawes' brutal KO and knee injury at UFC Vegas 63

UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling reacted to Phil Hawes' brutal KO and knee injury at the hands of Roman Dolidze on Saturday night. Sterling was in a similar situation last week when his opponent TJ Dillashaw's shoulder was repeatedly dislocated during their fight. In the end. 'Funk Master' managed to knock out Dillashaw in the second round of the fight.

Sterling reacted to Phil Hawes' injury on Twitter saying:

"Crazy. You play a dangerous game when you step in that octagon. You get hurt like that & try to push thru, you’re a warrior but then get double, or triple the damage! Hawes showed his toughness but in hindsight you gotta question..was it worth it? Only the athlete can answer that"

Aljamain Sterling brought up the question of whether Hawes showing his toughness was worth it in hindsight. He tried to fight through the injury but could not win the fight. The American did end up walking out of the octagon on his own, which was a good sign for the young fighter.

Take a look at Hawes walking out of the Octagon:

Take a look at the tweet by Sterling: