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Phil Hawes Says Signing With WSOF Was an Easy Decision

July 27, 2016 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Phil Hawes spoke with MMAjunkie about his fight with Louis Taylor at WSOF 32 and more. Some highlights are below:

On his loss to Andrew Sanchez during TUF 23: “At the time, it was tough to deal with. But I believe in retrospect that he did the necessary things to win. He competed well that night. He’s a good fighter, and I watched him move through the ‘TUF’ show – he adapted to every opponent. That’s just his high fight IQ, and my fight IQ wasn’t as high at the time. So my hat goes off to him. He did well, and I wish him nothing but the best.”

On getting back into form: “I wouldn’t say it was a quick turnaround. It took some time for me to readjust and reassess myself as a mixed martial artist. But like I said before and I still believe, I’m going to be a champion. When you’ve got that champion heart, one defeat, one loss, that’s nothing. It’s just a little bump in the road. Time heals all, and it healed me. Good to go.”

On signing with WSOF: “It was an easy decision. We sat down and looked at the numbers and the numbers from WSOF were the best, so you go where the money is.”

On people’s opinion of him: “I said it many times before: People’s views on me, negative or positive, really don’t weigh much value to me and my confidence and my self-worth, so if I went in there and I had a 15-minute war with this guy, if I did my best in that performance, then I would have taken it,” Hawes said. “But as the fight turned out, I finished him in a couple of minutes. I still wasn’t happy with the performance. I could have stood up a little more. But what people say about my performance or about my career really doesn’t play too much affect on me. I know I have the heart of a champion, and I’m going to be a champion.”

On his fight with Taylor: “I’m really big into sports psychology and the mental aspect of the game. It took a lot of studying. It tok a lot of reading, a lot of work, to get where I’m at mentally. At the beginning of my career, when there were high expectations, it did take a toll on me. But after reassessing myself, I’m getting better grip on myself and my self-confidence. I see my career just skyrocketing. I feel ready. I feel prepared. I feel I’m going to be world champion real soon. WSOF is just going to keep lining them up, and I’m just going to keep knocking them down.”

article topics :

Phil Hawes, WSOF 32, Jeremy Thomas