If Rick Hawn looked like he was fighting with a bit of a chip on his shoulder during his dominant run through Bellator’s lightweight tournament last season, it’s because he was.
Ten months before he stepped in the cage to make his debut in the 155-pound ranks opposite Brazilian Ricardo Tirloni, Hawn suffered the first and only loss of his career — a narrow split decision defeat to Jay Hieron in the finals of the Season 4 welterweight tournament.
Once he put the sting of the questionable decision behind him, Hawn began preparing for his opening-round bout in Season 5’s 170-pound tournament, but he never made it to his opening round bout with Ben Saunders. A knee injury put him on the sidelines, and out of the competition.
Between March and May, Hawn stormed through the Season 6 lightweight tournament, knocking out Tirloni midway through the first in his opening round bout, before stopping Lloyd Woodard 10 seconds into the second round in the semifinals. In the finals, Hawn scored a unanimous decision win over Brent Weedman, earning the opportunity to face Michael Chandler for the lightweight championship, and a bit of redemption at the same time.
Not bad for a guy who had never previously thought of competing at lightweight.
“There was definitely some redemption to just get out there and prove to people that I’m a contender,” explained Hawn, speaking with Sportsnet from Montreal last week. “I’m in the game, even though a lot of people don’t put me in that category. Not only that, but I was coming off a bad knee injury, so it was doubly sweet to get that win.
“I never thought I could make 55. No one ever brought it up to me, and I didn’t ever think about it until I moved up to Tristar. I was training with Firas Zahabi right before my knee injury, and he was like, ‘I could see you at 55. Maybe we can try to drop you down.’ I was like, ‘No way! I’m too big.’ But there are guys up here training at Tristar that are bigger than me at 55. Guys at welterweight nowadays are just too big.
“It’s a lot easier than I thought,” admitted Hawn, who brings his 14-1 record back to the cage Thursday night to face Chandler for the lightweight title in the main event of Bellator’s inaugural event on Spike TV. “I had never really been very scientific with my diet. Even in judo I didn’t cut a lot of weight. I was used to fighting bigger guys, and I think that’s what it was when I fought welterweight — guys were always bigger than me, but I still managed to do well. When I do get in camp, I’m obviously a lot better, and once the fight gets closer, I have to watch my diet. I have a good nutritionist, George Lockhart, and he sets me up with a program, and gets me on point every time.”
Hawn will need to be on point Thursday night when he shares the cage with Chandler, the former University of Missouri wrestler who rose to the top of Bellator’s lightweight ranks by submitting Eddie Alvarez in one of the most action-packed fights of 2011. In his lone appearance of 2012, the Alliance MMA-based athlete needed just 56 seconds to stop Japanese veteran Akihiro Gono, a win that pushed his record to a perfect 10-0.
The 2004 Olympic judo competitor comes into the bout as a serious underdog, with one of the main talking points — as always with Hawn — being the 10-year age difference between champion and challenger. It’s a narrative that is starting to grow tired for the 36-year-old Hawn, who only began his foray into mixed martial arts after failing to qualify for the 2008 US Olympic judo team.
“In every one of my fights you hear, ‘He’s this age, and his opponent is 10 years younger.’ Well I’m still knocking those guys out left and right,” said Hawn. “I’m only getting better. I don’t believe I’ve even hit my prime yet. It’s a mental attitude. I know what I’m capable of. I’ve been an elite athlete my entire life, and I’ve found a new sport. I feel great, my body feels great, and I see improvements every day, every month, every fight. You guys see improvement because I’m getting better every time, and I don’t see myself slowing down any time soon.”
What he does see is he and Chandler pairing off in an exciting contest, one he’s happy was delayed until the organization made the move from MTV2 to Spike TV.
“From the moment that my title fight was announced, we wanted to push it to the Spike deal if we could, just to get more eyes. Everyone knows it — (Bellator CEO) Bjorn (Rebney) knows it, my camp knows it, his camp knows it — it’s one of the most exciting upcoming fights that Bellator fans want to see, if not the most exciting fight that they want to see. What better place than to have that on the debut on Spike?
“I’m very excited to be the main event. I guess I’m part of history as the first show on Spike TV, so I’m looking forward to it, and I’m hoping a lot of people tune in.”
As for his assessment of Chandler, he believes there are some areas he can take advantage of.
“He’s a dangerous opponent. He’s a strong, tough wrestler, but we see a lot of holes in his game, and we’re going to do our best to exploit those, and take it to him. It’s not going to be an easy fight by any means, but I’ve prepared well, and I’m prepared for the challenge.
“He likes to bang and strike, and he’s been successful at it, and I am as well. With that, I think we’re going to have to mix either other up and change it, because we cancel each other out standing as well. The fight has the potential to go anywhere. We could be standing the whole time or we could be on the ground the whole time. I plan on finishing him right away, hopefully. That would be nice for me.”
There’s no doubt that would be nice, but ultimately Hawn just hopes to have his hand raised and a championship belt wrapped around his waist.
“It’s something fighter looks forward to and strives for — to be world champion — and it would mean everything to me. That’s why I do this, that’s why I’m here, and that’s why I’m still fighting at my age. I want to become world champion.”