Chelsea Hackett (born October 29, 1999) is an Australian

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

and muay thai fighter competing in the Women's

Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

division of

Professional Fighters League The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

(PFL).

Early life

Hackett was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and moved with her family to the Gold Coast at an early age. She attended St Andrews Lutheran College throughout her upbringing and began her martial arts journey at an after school Taekwando program at eight years old. By the age of 12, Hackett had achieved a junior black belt in Taekwando and sought out a new challenge in the form of

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

under the tutelage of 10-time world champion

John Wayne Parr John Wayne "The Gunslinger" Parr (born 25 May 1976), also known as JWP, is a retired Australian Muay Thai fighter, kickboxer and boxer, fighting out of Boonchu Gym in Gold Coast, Queensland. He is a former 10-times World Champion and was the ru ...

at his Boonchu Gym on the Gold Coast. She won gold medals at the IFMA World Muaythai Championships in both 2014 and 2015 on her way to amassing a professional Muay Thai record of 16-4-3, which included two world title victories and winning the WBC World Lightweight Championship. Hackett transitioned into Mixed martial arts full-time in 2019 and adopted the nickname Ham Sandwich.

Mixed martial arts career

Hackett made her professional MMA debut in May 2019 for Australia's Eternal MMA promotion walked away with a majority draw that would have been a unanimous decision victory had she not been deducted a point in the first round for holding the fence. She competed for the Eternal MMA promotion three more times over the following 12 months and was victorious in every bout. Hackett was then invited to compete at Dana White's Contender Series 36 where she fought and lost to Victoria Leonardo on November 17, 2020 for an

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

contract. Hackett signed with PFL and debuted at PFL 7 on August 4, 2023 against Ky Bennett, submitting her in the second round via rear-naked choke. Hackett faced Jena Bishop at PFL 1 on April 4, 2024 and lost the bout by an armbar submission. Hackett faced Dakota Ditcheva on June 13, 2024 at PFL 4. She lost the fight via body punch TKO in the first round.

Championships and accomplishments

Muay Thai

* WMC Muaythai Female Super Lightweight World Champion

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 4–3–1 , Dakota Ditcheva , TKO (punch to the body) , PFL 4 (2024) , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:22 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is a village in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is located in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–2–1 , Jena Bishop , Submission (armbar) ,

PFL 1 (2024) The ''PFL 1'' mixed martial arts event for the 2024 season of the Professional Fighters League was held on April 4, 2024, at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas, United States. This marked the first regular-season event of the ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:15 ,

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1–1 , Ky Bennett , Submission (rear-naked choke) , PFL 7 (2023) , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:42 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1–1 , Victoria Leonardo , TKO (punches) , Dana White's Contender Series 36 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:41 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0–1 , Rhiannon Thompson , Decision (unanimous) , Eternal MMA 52 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Gold Coast, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0–1 , Nicole Szepesvary , KO (slam) , Eternal MMA 49 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:08 , Gold Coast, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0–1 , Danielle Hayes , Decision (unanimous) , Eternal MMA 46 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Australia , , - , Draw , align=center, 0–0–1 , Mel Zeman , Draw (majority) , Eternal MMA 45 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Gold Coast, Australia , , -

Television appearances

In 2021, Hackett competed on '' Australian Survivor: Brains V Brawn''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Chelsea 1991 births Mixed martial artists from the Gold Coast, Queensland Sportswomen from Queensland Living people Australian female taekwondo practitioners 21st-century Australian sportswomen Australian female kickboxers Featherweight kickboxers Lightweight kickboxers Australian female Muay Thai practitioners Australian female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Survivor (franchise) contestants Participants in Australian reality television series