After making her long-awaited professional mixed martial arts debut at Eternal MMA 45 earlier this year, the fight ended in a draw. Coming off a result like that did not bode well in the eyes of Chelsea Hackett. She immediately threw her name back in the hat and signed up to compete on the next available fight card. Luckily for her, an opponent was not difficult to find this time around and the matchup was made.
Hackett will try to get her first professional win against Danielle Hayes at Eternal MMA 46 on July 27 at Southport Sharks in Gold Coast, Australia.
John Hyon Ko of Kumite TV spoke with the Muay Thai phenom about her upcoming clash with Danielle Hayes, moving on confident from getting a draw in her debut, elevating her skillset on the ground, visiting Perth as part of training camp, and more.
Full video interview down below.
Notable excerpts from the interview:
JHK: “Getting that experience in the cage [from your pro debut], what kind of adjustments have you made heading into this fight at Eternal 46?”
Chelsea Hackett: “Definitely not grabbing onto the cage that’s the first adjustment. Training myself to actually get up without grabbing the cage. I have just been working on my all-around game. Just because my striking is my strength it’s not something that I just stop working on. I’m always going to try and improve on my striking. I feel like my wrestling has come so far even since my last fight, I’m super proud of that. And also my ground work and jiu-jitsu. I have just been in the gym for hours a day drilling and working some of the best boys at my weight, also females. I’m definitely walking into this fight more confident. I was super confident in my last fight but this one is another level.”
JHK: “Watching film on [Danielle Hayes], how do you break down her striking?”
Chelsea Hackett: “Definitely different striking to me. I would just say that, I think she obviously has got credentials in her striking and she comes from a Muay Thai background. She obviously hasn’t had as much experience in Muay Thai as I have. But looking at her striking I feel like she is quite one dimensional. I feel like I am way more mobile and my speed is going to put her off a little bit. My speed and my angles. That’s what I picked up but honestly, I haven’t seen much.”
JHK: “You are taking a very, very similar path as [Valentina Shevchenko]. It is going to be crazy to see you eventually get to that point and get signed by the UFC. That’s what its all about, right?”
Chelsea Hackett: “100 percent! You know what, the day they say Chelsea Hackett versus Valentina [Shevchenko]. Of course, I’ll take it. That fight to me would be a dream fight. Both Muay Thai backgrounds, just like when she fought Joanna Jedrzejczyk, a similar thing like they are both stand up striking fighters so it’s just an exciting matchup all around. “
