Hawn was born in Chicago, but when he was young, his family moved to Eugene, Oregon.[1] At age 12, Hawn began training in judo when his father got back into the sport.[1] Hawn continued to compete while attending South Eugene High School, where he also competed in wrestling, and also football in his senior year.[1][2]
Olympic career
In 1996, after graduating from high school, Hawn qualified to live at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[1] There, he trained in judo for eight years and ultimately qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games.[1] At the Games in 2004, Hawn went 2-2 and finished in 9th place. Hawn also won numerous medals at the U.S. national championships and two medals at the Pan American Games.[1][3]
After the 2004 Games, Hawn moved to Boston to train with bronze medalist Jimmy Pedro.[1] However, Hawn failed to make the 2008 Olympic judo team.[1] Soon after, Hawn began training for a career in Mixed Martial Arts.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Hawn's professional mixed martial arts debut came in January 2009 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Hawn won by a technical knockout in the first round. Over the next two years, Hawn won his next eight fights, six by TKO.
Bellator MMA
In March 2011, Hawn began competing in the Bellator MMA's Season Four Welterweight Tournament. He defeated Jim Wallhead by a unanimous decision in the quarterfinals and Lyman Good by a split decision in the semifinals.
Hawn was defeated by Jay Hieron at Bellator 43 in a fight which some believe was a controversial split decision.
After a strong showing in the Season Four Tournament, Hawn was planning to return to the cage as part of Bellator's Season Five Welterweight Tournament, but an injury during training forced him out of the tournament.[4]
Hawn returned to the promotion in the spring of 2012 as a participant in the Season Six Lightweight Tournament; dropping down to Lightweight for the first time in his MMA career. He faced Ricardo Tirloni in the opening round at Bellator 62. Tirloni was able to land with a few leg kicks, but Hawn was able to continue pressing forward. Hawn then landed a right hand which dropped Tirloni. Hawn hit Tirloni with punches and hammerfists on the ground and the fight was stopped at 2:36 of the opening round.[5]
He next faced Lloyd Woodard in the semifinals at Bellator 66 on April 20, 2012. Hawn won the fight via KO in the second round. Hawn next took on Brent Weedman in the tournament finals on May 25, 2012, at Bellator 70 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
At Bellator 95, Hawn faced Karo Parisyan whom Hawn had twice defeated in judo competition.[6] During the bout, Hawn was able to land a right cross, knocking Parisyan to his knees and landing repeated hammerfists on Parisyan, prompting the fight to be stopped 1:55 in the second round.[7]
In the fall of 2013, Hawn entered his second Bellator Welterweight Tournament. He defeated both Herman Terrado and Brent Weedman by a unanimous decision in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
In the finals, Hawn faced Ron Keslar at Bellator 109 and won via knockout in the third round.
Hawn faced Douglas Lima for the vacant Bellator Welterweight Championship at Bellator 117 on April 18, 2014. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round when his corner stopped the fight due to the amount of leg kicks he was taking.
Hawn faced returning Dave Jansen on October 24, 2014, at Bellator 130.[8] He lost the fight via a unanimous decision.
In November 2014, Hawn announced on Twitter that he was released from the organization.[9]
Hawn defeated Pat Healy by split decision for the vacant Titan FC Lightweight Championship at Titan FC 35 on September 19, 2015. Healy was stripped of the title for missing weight the day prior.[12]
Retirement
Hawn officially retired from MMA on October 19, 2015, as the reigning Titan FC Lightweight Champion.[13]
Hawn came out of retirement to face Gesias Cavalcante on October 21, 2022, at Combat FC 2. He lost the bout via guillotine choke in the second round.[14]
Bare-knuckle boxing
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship
Hawn was scheduled to make his debut against Scott Lampert in a welterweight bout at BKFC 61 Connecticut on May 11, 2024.[15] Lampert was later replaced by Stephen Stengel; Hawn won the fight by knockout in the first round.[16]
