UFC 290: Kicked out of his academic scholarship, Shannon Ross chases Las Vegas vengeance
The last time Shannon Ross was in Las Vegas, he nearly died after suffering a burst appendix ahead of his fight. But his no quit attitude won him one massive admirer.
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For a guy who always seemed destined to end up in the UFC, Shannon Ross sure took a roundabout way to get there.
A bright kid, the Queenslander was “booted out” of his academic excellence scholarship in high school for fighting.
He then took up soccer, winning a sporting scholarship, before being told he was “way too rough for soccer,” forcing him to switch to rugby league, where he earned another sporting excellence scholarship at Palm Beach Currumbin.
He was a gun fullback, who could’ve had a dazzling career, but sometime around his 16th birthday, Ross says, he “just stopped growing.”
Weighing 60kg ringing wet, it was no fun tackling kids nearly twice his size, and after a few shoulder injuries, he ditched footy for fighting.
Thrown into his first professional fight by his coach on short notice, Ross scored a first round knockout victory, but even then, his journey was full of ups and downs.
Mostly downs.
He was selected to fight on Dana White’s Contender Series in Las Vegas last year, but contracted appendicitis during fight week. Despite dealing with a bout of blood poisoning after his appendix burst, he put on a heroic, if losing performance.
It’s the kind of thing White loves to see.
“He was blown away when he found out about the appendicitis,” Ross told this masthead. “He’s an emotional guy, so when they heard I was going into surgery after the fight, he was like, ‘Wow you Aussies are crazy. You fought like that and you were half dead’.
“That’s why I got the contract.”
After being stopped in the first round in his UFC debut in Perth in February, Ross says he has unfinished business to handle this weekend.
“It was very sh**, no one likes losing, especially at this level,” he said. “Sometimes you play a game of chess and the other guy picks up the board and throws it at you.
“But what do you do? You’ve gotta move on.
“I get to have a coming out party at this one. It’s even bigger, it’s international fight week and I get to show out and perform like I know I can.”
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Originally published as UFC 290: Kicked out of his academic scholarship, Shannon Ross chases Las Vegas vengeance
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