November 17th, 2020 was the last time we saw ‘The Hammer’ Chelsea Hackett (3-1-1) compete inside of an octagon in a Mixed Martial Arts fight. That night she fought for a contract on the Dana White’s Contender Series and looked to secure a spot in the UFC at an astonishing 21 years of age. An incredible achievement for any fighter around the world, let alone someone only four fights into their MMA career. That night in Las Vegas was not the moment she had envisioned in the months leading up to that fight, falling to veteran Victoria Leonardo (8-2) via TKO.

However after nearly three years away from this sport, Hackett looks to show the world the new and improved version of herself as she prepares to make the long twenty one hour journey to San Antonio, Texas to face Colorado native, Ky Bennett (3-2) in her promotional debut for the PFL.

Speaking in an Interview with From The Stands, Chelsea explains how her three year absence has made her a supremely better fighter.

“The development I’ve made as a fighter in these last three years, is going to show in this PFL debut. The biggest thing I’m taking away from this time off is the development of a fighter that I’ve made. I’ve been fighting since I was twelve years old, I’ve been doing this literally my whole life and this is the longest I’ve gone without fighting. I think back now and I’m like everything that happened to me whether it was in my control or not, has put me in the position of where I am today. Just so content, so happy and so confident”

Chelsea moments before her DWCS fight, November of 2020
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)


Hackett went on to talk about how her confidence and how she deals with pressure, are the two main attributes that have been greatly improved since her last bout.

“The confidence in my own ability now. I’m going in with a full tool bag, like I’ve got all these tools and its like when do I pull them out, when do I need to use them and also having the confidence that I have an answer for everything. That’s the biggest change from DWCS. Secondly the pressure. Pressure is a big thing, I went into Contender and felt like the whole of Australia on my shoulders. Now I’m fighting for myself, I’m not fighting for anyone else. Whereas Contender I felt like I was trying to please everyone and trying to make everyone proud”


In just 11 days, Chelsea looks to make her long awaited return and stamp her claim as one of the best Flyweight’s in the world. After a near three year lay off, focusing solely on refining her skills and adding new ones, there is no limit to how far she can go. Tune in from 8:30am AEST on August 5th in Australia, on Stan Sport to watch Chelsea remind everyone – “Ya’ll Must’ve Forgot”.