EXCLUSIVE
Australian MMA fighter and reality TV star Chelsea Hackett has revealed that she got into martial arts through a fight club in an underground car park when she was a child.
The 24-year-old personal trainer who competes in the women’s flyweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) had a very unusual introduction to combat sports.
Hackett had done some taekwondo since the age of eight, but really entered the underground fighting scene at age 12 on the Gold Coast.
“My father founded a Chinese boxing team,” Hackett told WhatsNew2Day Australia.
‘They were just ordinary men gathered in a parking lot.
Australian MMA star Chelsea Hackett has spoken about her introduction to combat sports
Hackett (pictured) became involved in a real-life underground fight club at age 12.
“He made a deal with one of the business owners so that for three days a week we could use the parking lot basically as a fight club.
“One day he told me to come train. I was 12 at the time and he put the MMA helmet and gloves on me, and he put me with a 16-year-old kid who was much bigger than me. He set the timer for three minutes.
‘He said, “Go, do what you want.”‘
‘I just untied myself. I threw the kitchen sink at this guy. Obviously, he wasn’t trying to hit me, but then I realized that he had it in me and dad realized that he had that kind of dog in me.
“I started doing that three days a week.”
Not long after, Hackett found herself at John Wayne Parr’s Boonchu Muay Thai gym on the Gold Coast, where she trained until she was ready to fight competitively.
At age 19, Hackett transitioned to MMA, where she found great success and was recently selected for the PFL flyweight division.
In 2021, Hackett decided to take part in Australian Survivor: Brains v Brawn, but fell ill on the show and was eventually rushed to hospital with extreme dehydration and an infection, after two days of dizziness and headaches on set.
The MMA star now competes in the PFL women’s flyweight division.
Hackett also appeared on Survivor in 2021, but was forced to withdraw due to illness.
As tough as her experience on the reality show was, Hackett believes it benefited her in many ways.
‘It was full. You’re hungry, you’re dehydrated, you’re hot. You are sleeping in the bush.
“So trying to make a TV show and having the producers in front of you the whole time was difficult, but it was a good experience.
“(The program) definitely built resilience within me and helped me with life in general.”
Hackett lost her most recent fight in the PFL to American fighter Jena Bishop at PFL 1 in San Antonio last weekend.
The Australian star took to social media to thank her fans.
‘That hurts. Things happen,” he posted.
“I’ll be back in 8 weeks for a second shot, I have some catching up to do.”