And it’ll be a battle of the big boys, as John Hawk (10-5) will face Curt Lemmon (4-0) for the vacant NAAFS heavyweight title. Both fighters have posted about the matchup on their Facebook pages, and it has apparently been signed and made official. The title hasn’t been active since 2011, when Stipe Miocic was signed by the UFC after earning a victory over Bobby Brents to claim the belt.
Hawk actually won the NAAFS title once before in 2010, when he defeated Joe McCall at Caged Fury 9. The Strong Style product then made the decision to drop down to light heavyweight, where he competed for the 205-pound title on two different occasions. “Big John” has also posted a 2-1 record under the Bellator MMA banner, including an upset victory over Marcus Vanttinen at Bellator 66 in 2012. Hawk made the return to heavyweight in 2014, earning impressive victories over veteran heavyweights William Penn and Brents to earn another title shot for NAAFS.
Lemmon comes in looking for what would already be his second pro title, as he claimed the EFP heavyweight belt with a victory over Jeremy Linville in July. The 26-year-old has yet to taste defeat in his professional or amateur career, going 11-0 overall with 10 stoppage victories. He earned the title shot with an impressive first round submission over Tim Dunn at the last NAAFS event in December.
This is actually the second bout that is set for the event, as officials announced a lightweight bout featuring George Comer (5-1) vs. Joey Holt (4-2) last week.
The next NAAFS event will be on January 31 near Toledo, as Antonio Castillo Jr. and Isaiah Chapman will square off for the organization’s bantamweight title.
Be sure to stay tuned to BluegrassMMA.com as more bouts are expected to be made official for this event in the coming days.