CAMPBELL DRAWS SCARCELLO IN FIRST TITLE DEFENSE AT UNIFIED 32
Jul 14, 2017
EDMONTON — Shane “Shaolin” Campbell will defend his Unified MMA Lightweight Championship for the first time against Mike “The Storm” Scarcello in the main event of Unified 32, Sept. 29 in Edmonton.
Campbell won the title with an impressive third-round leglock submission over Tristan Connelly in the headline bout of Unified 31 in June. That victory followed Campbell’s five-fight tenure in the UFC’s Octagon. Scarcello, meanwhile, earned his title shot after notching his fifth straight finish in the Unified MMA cage in December. The Edmonton product made his Unified debut in 2011 and holds an impressive 8-1 overall record in the Unified cage.
Campbell agrees that Scarcello has rightfully earned his shot at the belt. But the UFC vet says there’s no way Scarcello will win the fight should he decide to spend too much time standing up.
“Not a chance in hell,” Campbell says when asked if Scarcello’s striking matches his. “When anyone looks at this match-up, they know that my striking annihilates his.”
The most likely outcome for this fight, the Edmonton lightweight adds, is a finish — be it standing up or on the canvas.
“I’m going to light him up with my hands, but as we’ve also seen recently I have no problem taking you out on the ground,” the champ says with a smile. “That title means a lot to me; I’m not giving it up without a hell of a battle.”
Bring it on, says Scarcello, who feels he’s “fresher” than Campbell and has better boxing and wrestling than his opponent.
“I’ve always had my eyes on Shane and I’ve always had my eyes on that Unified belt,” says Scarcello, a winner of six straight.
“This is a dream fight for me. This is the biggest fight of my career, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Additionally at Unified 32, Cody Krahn enters the cage for the 28th time to take on fellow Edmonton fighter Jeff Porter, who’s coming off an epic three-round battle with former Unified MMA title challenger Teddy Ash.
Tickets go on sale August 4 at UnifiedMMA.ca/tickets.
