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

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, gener ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

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 above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of b ...

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) promo ...

(PFL).

Early life

Hackett was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

and moved with her family to the Gold Coast at an early age. She attended

St Andrews Lutheran College St Andrews Lutheran College is a private Lutheran based junior school, middle school, and senior school at Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. History Following the success of Trinity Lutheran College at Ashmore, Queenslan ...

throughout her upbringing and began her martial arts journey at an after school

Taekwando ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

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 ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterise ...

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-time World Champion and was the ru ...

at his Boonchu Gym on the Gold Coast. She won gold medals at the

IFMA World Muaythai Championships The IFMA World Muaythai Championships are annual amateur muaythai competitions organised by the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA), which is the sport governing body A sports governing body is a sports organization that has ...

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 Victoria Leonardo Mason (born February 16, 1990) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born in the Pomona section of Galloway Township, New Jersey, 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 Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

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.

Championships and accomplishments

Muay Thai

* WMC Muaythai Female Super Lightweight World Champion

Mixed martial arts record

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

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1–1 ,

, TKO (punches) , Dana White's Contender Series 36 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:41 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0–1 , Rhiannon Thompson , Decision (unanimous) , Eternal MMA 52 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0–1 , Nicole Szepesvary , KO (slam) , Eternal MMA 49 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:08 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0–1 , Danielle Hayes , Decision (unanimous) , Eternal MMA 46 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Melbourne, Victoria, Australia , , - , Draw , align=center, 0–0–1 , Mel Zeman , Draw (majority) , Eternal MMA 45 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, 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 Sportswomen from Queensland Living people Australian female taekwondo practitioners Australian female kickboxers Featherweight kickboxers Lightweight kickboxers Australian Muay Thai practitioners 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