{"id":321395,"date":"2023-08-05T01:40:51","date_gmt":"2023-08-05T01:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=321395"},"modified":"2023-08-05T02:58:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-05T02:58:22","slug":"aussie-fighter-makes-massive-statement-on-pfl-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=321395","title":{"rendered":"Aussie fighter makes massive statement on PFL debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia's Chelsea Hackett has made the best possible start to her debut in the Professional Fighters League<\/a>, defeating Ky Bennett by submission in the second round.<\/p>\n

Relaunching her MMA career on the PFL Playoffs card, and with a chance to score a contract for the 2024 season, Hackett dominated from start to finish.<\/p>\n

Leading into the fight, Hackett said she was taking a "stand and bang" approach to the fight<\/a>. However, when the call came to begin the fight, she opted for a totally different tactic.<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from the 2023 Professional Fighters League.<\/strong><\/em> Streaming ad free, live and on demand on Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/PFLMMA\/status\/1687604657709809664<\/a><\/p>\n

The 24-year-old wrestled Bennett to the ground and spent much of the first round with her opponent up against the edge of the decagon.<\/p>\n

The second round started with the pair trading blows before Hackett landed a punch and send Bennett staggering backwards.<\/p>\n

Despite having rocked her rival, Hackett opted to continue wrestling and eventually took hold of her back and got her in a rear naked chokehold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

In the dying moments of the second round, Bennett tapped out to give Hackett victory via submission.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne-born, Gold Coast-raised fighter was all smiles thereafter.<\/p>\n

Asked about her change of tact, Hackett said the long layoff since her last major MMA appearance on Dana White's Contender Series<\/em> allowed her an opportunity to upskill.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/PFLMMA\/status\/1687607036832292864<\/a><\/p>\n

"When you have been put on the sidelines for almost three years \u2013 COVID, pull-outs, injuries \u2013 I just spent so many hours and time in the gym working on all my weaknesses, my wrestling, my jiu-jitsu, and I really wanted to make a statement and I think that's the best statement I could have made," said Hackett.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Really happy with that."<\/p>\n

Hackett joked that she was ready to go for the next PFL Playoffs event in New York in just two weeks' time on August 19.<\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

"I've had three years off so, shit, put me in next week! Oh, I can't swear, sorry," she laughed.<\/p>\n

"Put me in next week, I'm ready. I'd love to fight in New (York), wait, that's next weekend. Well yeah, New York, yeah, cool, put me on next weekend."<\/p>\n

The win takes Hackett one step closer towards a full-time PFL contract and a chance to join the regular season in 2024 with a chance to win the ultimate $1.5 million prize.\ufeff<\/p>\n

The PFL season continues on August 19 with the Playoffs headlined by the heavyweights and women's featherweights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The final Playoffs event this year takes place on August 24 headlined by the welterweights and lightweights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The PFL regular season returns on April 2 featuring the featherweights and light heavyweights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia's Chelsea Hackett has made the best possible start to her debut in the Professional Fighters League, defeating Ky Bennett by submission in the second […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":321397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=321395"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321400,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321395\/revisions\/321400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/321397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=321395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=321395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=321395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}