Current Titan FC lightweight Rick Hawn was allowed to take a fight outside of the promotion and that fight will take place next Friday night as he meets Derek Loffer in the main event of CES MMA 28 in Rhode Island.
Hawn (19-4) was released from his Bellator contract late last year and immediately signed with Titan and won his promotional debut against Carlo Prater at Titan FC 32.
In a conversation that will air on tomorrow’s edition of The MMA Report Live, Hawn admitted that he was not happy with his performance against Prater.
“I did not open up as much as I wanted to,” Hawn said. “I was fighting a seasoned veteran so I did not want to make a mistake. I was a little to cautious and I think I should have went a little harder at him. At that point, I had lost two in a row so if I did not win it was important
and to not make that stupid mistake. Which someone with that kind of caliber and that many fights, you have to be careful.”
When is fight was announced against Loffer, a fan responded to the fight booking to The MMA Report on Twitter and wrote “anyone wanna lay money on how much Loffer shows up overweight?” Is Hawn concerned with this?
“I have kind of heard that from a few people and the comment that I saw that kind of has a tendency to come in overweight the last few fights I guess,” Hawn stated. “You know me, I use to fight at welterweight so if he comes in a little overweight, that is fine. I will take 20 percent of his purse and I will still get the win. It doesn’t bother me. I am going to be kick and fast so he is going to have to try catch up with me if he comes in heavy. It doesn’t bother me any. I am use to fighting bigger guys.”
When it comes to the preparation of the fight, Hawn admitted that he has not seen a lot of footage of Loffer but knows the type of fighter he will be facing next Friday night in Rhode Island.
“I have not seen a lot. I have seen a few fights. He is kind of a traditional striker. I have not really seen anything in his clinch or ground game that worries me. From the most part, he seems like a striker. I am prepared for that. Definitely looking forward to it and I am ready to go.”
Obviously, the goal for Hawn is to get the victory and show the Titan FC executives that he should be someone in line to face the winner of the March 20 vacant lightweight title fight between Pat Healy and Kurt Kinser. While it would be great to have a highlight reel finish in the fight, the ultimate goal is to just end the fight with the referee raising his hand in victory.
“That is always — I think every fighter wants to do that,” Hawn said. “Put on a highlight reel knockout or type of finish. I have been working on a lot of stuff these last couple of fights. My last fight to really open up and do the things I have been working on. I have had a few more months to train on that stuff. I just want to go out there and put everything together that I have been working on. Just fast pace fight and get the job done like I know I am capable of doing.”