Move of Necessity

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The writing was on Rick Hawn’s wall, and he read it.

Too small to carve out the success he desired at 170 pounds, the 2004 Olympian elected to redefine himself as a lightweight. Now comes the difficult part: performing at a consistent enough level to remove all doubt about whether or not he made the right decision.

Hawn (11-1) will toe the line against once-beaten Ricardo Tirloni in the Bellator Fighting Championships Season 6 lightweight tournament at Bellator 62 on Friday at the Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas. There, the 35-year-old judoka will debut at 155 pounds less than a year after he reached the final in Bellator’s latest welterweight draw, where he suffered his first professional defeat and lost a split decision to former International Fight League champion Jay Hieron.

“I had a good run at welterweight, but I was always really undersized,” Hawn told Sherdog.com. “I was able to hang in there and do really well, but I just think I’ll be able to make the most out of my body and my frame at lightweight. At this level of the sport, you really have to use any advantage that you can, and, now, I’ll be able to compete against guys that are more my own size.”

The 15-pound move brings with it plenty of perils and uncertainty.

“I competed at 178 pounds in the Olympics in judo, but I would only cut like five pounds, if that,” said Hawn, who stands 5-foot-9. “It’s been since 1996 or 1997 since I’ve been near 155 pounds. I used to compete in judo at 156 back then.”

Provided he can trim the excess pounds without taxing his body too heavily, Hawn expects to see immediate results. He has a history of success upon which he can draw. The Dracut, Mass., native was a four-time national champion in judo and placed ninth at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Hawn views the move to 155 pounds as the next step in his evolution as a mixed martial artist.

“I feel like I’m going to be unveiling a new version of Rick Hawn in this tournament,” he said. “I’ve really gone back and changed my entire game. I’m going to be lighter, I’m going to be faster and I’m coming out to finish guys. I’m coming out there to destroy whoever stands in front of me. I’m not holding back this time around.”

In addition to the division switch, Hawn has returned to his roots. He has paid particular attention to his submission game.

“I haven’t had any submissions yet in my career or even that many submission attempts on the ground, so I’m definitely working on becoming more well-rounded and more dangerous in the cage,” Hawn said. “When I first got started in MMA, my main focus was kickboxing because that’s what I had the least experience in, but now I’m going back and sharpening a lot of my weapons on the ground, as well.”

Hawn will need to navigate through dangerous waters at Bellator 62. An aggressive Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Tirloni has rattled off 11 consecutive victories, including his 2009 rear-naked choke submission on UFC veteran Brian Cobb. Having spent considerable time at American Top Team, he now trains out of the same Ataque Duplo camp that Thiago Tavares calls home.

“I know Ricardo is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, so I’m expecting him to have a little bit of an advantage as far as the jiu-jitsu goes on the ground,” Hawn said. “I can't fall asleep on Ricardo and be lazy on the ground even for a second, but even if we do go to the ground, I’m not worried at all. Just because he has a black belt doesn’t mean that he’s stellar. I definitely feel like I have the advantage over him in terms of overall skill. I feel like I’m going to be in better condition than he is and I’m going to be stronger and faster than he is.”

Dangerous off his back and on his feet, Tirloni has secured 12 of his 14 professional victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission and more than half of them inside one round. He suffered his only career defeat to current UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, against whom he more than held his own until he wound up locked inside the arms of the man with perhaps the game’s most devastating guillotine choke.

“Ricardo seems like a pretty decent, well-rounded fighter from what I’ve seen on him,” Hawn said. “At the same time, I saw some holes in his game that I definitely think I’m going to be able to exploit. Considering how stacked the rest of the field is, I think he’s a really good matchup for me in the first round of this tournament. I’m looking forward to it.”

Tirloni made his promotional debut at Bellator 55 in October, as he submitted Steve Gable with a second-round rear-naked choke. His performance did nothing to shake Hawn’s confidence.

“I see myself completely dominating and overwhelming Ricardo in this fight,” he said. “I’m going to push the pace, I’m going to out-strike him, I’m going to get him in the clinch and I’m going to put him on his head.”