Rick Hawn has punched a ticket to his third Bellator tournament final. Fighting fellow Bellator mainstay Brent Weedman, Hawn took a handy unanimous decision victory at Bellator 104.
Hawn repeatedly rocked Weedman in a battle that, despite Hawn‘s world-class grappling background, was contended almost entirely standing. By the end of the fight, Weedman wore Hawn‘s hands, and all three judges scored the fight 30-27 in favor of the 37 year-old.
A member of the 2004 United States Olympic Judo Team, Hawn has been one of Bellator‘s most successful and enduring fighters.
He has fought with the promotion 11 times, racking up a 9-2 record. In 2011, he made it to the finals of Bellator‘s Season 4 Welterweight Tournament, dropping a split decision to UFC, IFL and Strikeforce veteran Jay Hieron.
In 2012, he won Season 6 Lightweight Tournament but suffered a second-round knockout loss at the hands of champion Michael Chandler.
With this victory, Hawn will find himself fighting Ron Keslar in the coming months.
Keslar also earned his way into the tournament’s finals at Bellator 104, beating UFC veteran Jon Koppenhaver (who legally changed his name to War Machine) with an impressive first-round submission from a rear-naked choke.
After the tournament is over there lies a giant question mark. This is due to the awkward free agency situation regarding welterweight champion Ben Askren.
If Askren returns to Bellator, the winner of Hawn vs. Keslar will fight the winner of Askren vs. Douglas Lima (who won Bellator‘s Season 8 welterweight tournament at Bellator 100). If not, the winner will likely face off with Lima to fill the vacant welterweight championship.
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