In only his third professional fight, Tiger Muay Thai & MMA Phuket alumni Mike Staana Hafstad showed great poise in his victory over a taller and more experienced opponent.

With just over 30 seconds left in the third round of the fight, Hafstad (2-1) left his Russian opponent bruised and battered while cruising to a TKO decision Sunday night.

The 20-year-old Norwegian, bouncing back from a loss just one month prior, traded heavy blows with his slightly taller opponent at Bangla Boxing Stadium in Phuket, Thailand. Hafstad kept his distance with a flurry of kicks peppered with sudden punches to his opponent’s head.

The fight was made all the more special knowing that he had to hop onto a plane back to his hometown of Oslo just 24-hours later.

“I think that is one of the biggest reasons I won,” Hafstad said, “It gave me power to say ‘I’m not going home without winning’.”

His opponent, a 26-year-old Russia native called Simon, was a last minute replacement and a veteran of 6 fights who gave up in the third round during one of Hafstad’s flurry of elbows to the head.

“I definitely want to come back, this is the best place to train,” Hafstad said after the fight, “I will start saving money immediately and I will come back to do it again.”