Shannon Clark’s unlikely undefeated road to #Unified40
Feb 25, 2020
EDMONTON — Shannon Clark recently spoke with us about her unlikely road to the Unified MMA cage. The unbeaten Lethbridge fighter tries to improve to 3-0 against her toughest challenge yet, Kelowna’s Maria Djukic, at Unified 40 on March 14 at River Cree Resort & Casino in Enoch, AB, LIVE on FITE.
How did you find MMA to begin with? Did you have any previous martial arts experience?
UFC fighter Jordan Mein introduced me to the gym about 10 years ago. I had no idea Lethbridge even offered this until then. I also used to think UFC was a dumb sport — or not even much of a sport at that time. I always thought, Who would ever think it’s OK to punch people in the face and enjoy it? But after trying one kickboxing class I was hooked. I trained kickboxing in my off seasons to stay in shape. I played soccer at the University of Lethbridge for five years. And once I graduated and soccer was over, I stepped up my martial arts training!
How do you feel about what you’ve accomplished so far?
I’m very happy with the outcomes so far! I was stepping into the cage once just to see how good I was — my competitive side coming out — and that was suppose to be it. One and done — but here we are three fights later (laughs)!
What should Unified MMA fans expect in your return?
They can expect me to come in calm and hopefully in control like last fight, but with a completely different fighting strategy.
What’s the most likely outcome for your next fight?
I definitely believe this fight will be my hardest one yet and I anticipate it will go all three rounds. I’m just hoping I’ll hold my own against her heavy punches and win each round by out-striking her. My goal is to not underestimate her power and to control the fight. What would you like to accomplish in 2020? I want to travel this summer and train at other gyms. That way, when I come back to my gym maybe I can actually get the boys with a new move they don’t know about!
What are your long-term goals in MMA?
I’m not actually sure what I want long-term in regards to MMA. I love training and when coach tells me he has a fight lined up, I’ve just said okay to it!
