Chris Haseman (born 2 June 1969 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian mixed martial artist. Haseman is currently signed with Fighting Network RINGS and is a longtime veteran of the promotion (1995–2012). Regarded as a pioneer of MMA in Australia he competed in Australia's first MMA show along with events such as the UFC and the World Fighting Alliance.
Coming from a background in Karate, Boxing, Wrestling, and Jujutsu, Haseman was signed up by RINGS as the head of their Australian branch. He had his debut in mixed martial arts outside the promotion, however, fighting Vale Tudo exponent Murilo Bustamante in Martial Arts Reality Superfighting. Although he lost by strikes in little more than a minute, his next bouts were more successful; taking part in Australia's Caged Combat 1 tournament, Haseman submitted two consecutive opponents by taking them down and ramming his chin into their eye sockets, and it took another vale tudo veteran, Mario Sperry, to knock him out.
After returning to RINGS, Haseman fought professional wrestler Alexander Otsuka and won by doctor stoppage after controlling the bout. He then participated in a February 1998 RINGS Holland event, where he fought Kickboxing and Sambo expert Valentijn Overeem to a decision that eventually went to the latter.
Haseman eventually was chosen to participate in RINGS's first world mixed martial arts tournament, King of Kings 1999. His opponent would be the renowned Japanese fighter Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, who came from fighting multiple bouts in Ultimate Fighting Championship. Haseman controlled the first round, executing repeated armlock attempts on a defensive Kohsaka, but the Australian was unable to finish him, and this carried to the second one, where Kohsaka took over the grappling exchanges. Entering the third round already tired, Haseman turtled down and continued fighting from the position, only for the Japanese to counter him and grind him with strikes. The match ended with Haseman defending a Guillotine Choke attempt, and it saw the judges eventually awarded the split decision to Kohsaka. Although eliminated from the tournament, Haseman won a bonus fight, submitting American wrestler Brad Kohler by armbar from the bottom in 1:11.
The rest of 2000 was an active year for Haseman as well, submitting most of his opponents and fighting to a decision with future UFC Welterweight ChampionMatt Hughes. In September, he was defeated by fellow UFC champion Jeremy Horn for the first time Haseman fell on a submission move.
He returned at the next edition of King of Kings, being pitted first against Carlson Gracie trainee Carlos Barreto, who outweighed him by 30 pounds. The bout was primarily fought on the feet, with Barreto enjoying the reach advantage and cutting Haseman on his forehead with a punch, though also with Haseman returning the favor with a right hook that downed the Brazilian. In the end, Haseman won by unanimous decision after controlling the last round. Haseman next faced a professional wrestler Yoshihisa Yamamoto, but the match turned into an upset when the latter, who had been consistently dominated except by an armbar attempt, hit several glancing leg kicks that damaged Haseman's leg. Chris lost by KO and was eliminated.
Haseman later competed at the RINGS 2001 Middleweight Championship Tournament, where he choked out famous ADCC competitor Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira before falling to Gustavo Machado. His last bout in RINGS would be against Fedor Emelianenko.
Late career
Chris later competed against Evan Tanner and retired after losing to Canadian Bill Mahood in Spartan Reality Fight series 9 in 2004. Four years later in 2008, he returned to the sport and earned an 18-second knockout win over Japanese Yuji Hisamatsu.
Haseman was scheduled to return to the octagon in 2010 for a rematch against Elvis Sinosic at UFC 110, the first UFC event to be held in Australia.[1] However, just a day before the fight, Sinosic was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury.[2]
