Shane Burgos Q&A: Mid-Fight Haircuts, Home State Fights and Love at First Sight

UFC featherweight competitor “Hurricane” Shane Burgos (11-1) speaks with Tony Reid of MyMMANews.com.

Tony Reid – You always seem to have your foot on the gas pedal inside the Octagon. No matter what is going on in there you are moving forward. Can you tell us about that fight style and that mentality in the cage?

Shane Burgos – “Like you said, it’s more of a mentality. As soon as the bell rings and the referee says ‘Go’ I’m not trying to outpoint you or get a takedown. I am trying to knock you out or choke you out. I am trying to finish the fight as quickly as possible. We don’t get paid by the minute. I am trying to get in there and get out of there.”

TR – Many fighters have to politick for quite some time to get fights in their home town or state. You have done it multiple times in your relatively short run with the UFC. What does it mean to have that extra electricity leading up to a fight?

SB – “It means a lot, honestly. All of the people that support me really don’t know how much it means to me. It means the world to me. I’m not just doing this for me. I’m doing it for them, too. When I win they feel like they win, too. If I lose they feel like they lost. I don’t want to give them that feeling. The electricity is insane. I remember walking out to the fight against Charles Rosa at UFC 210 in Buffalo. The arena was so much bigger than any other place I have fought before. I looked up at the ceiling and it was like 300 feet high. I looked all around and the place was packed already. There were a bunch of people chanting my name. It was insane.”

TR – Your mid fight haircut at Fight Night 102 got a lot of run and attention. There have been plenty of crazy moments inside the Octagon but that might have been a first. What was the response that you received after that one?

SB – “It was the first as far as I know. I heard so much about it. It was the first thing people would ask be about or bring up. It was funny. It got me like 500,000 views on the Instagram video posted by the UFC. It thought it was pretty funny.”

TR-How many more fights will it take before you are in the conversation with the elite of the elite in the division?

SB – “My focus is strictly on the fight ahead of me. I would say within a year. Fighting is one of those weird things. You don’t know what is going to happen next. I could go into my next fight and break my hand and not fight for six months. So, for that reason, I don’t have a time limit on my goals but I definitely have them set.”

TR – You have said MMA was love at first sight. Maybe it was love at first fight. Do you remember what fight specifically you were watching at the time?

SB – “Yeah it was Matt Hughes versus Carlos Newton. I was watching the old UFC Unleashed episode in seventh or eighth grade. I had the old video game before that but I didn’t relay know what it was all about. I saw it at that moment and it struck a nerve. I remember watching Hughes slam Newton, knock him out as he was out himself but still won the title. It was insane. You can slam people and knock them out? I want to try that! I met Matt Hughes at the Fighter Summit a few years back. I didn’t really get to talk to him.”

TR – What inspires you or drives you to be great in this crazy sport?

SB – “I just want to be successful, not just for me but for my family and everyone that believes in me. I want to prove them all right. I do this for my wife, my daughter and my family. I feel like I owe it to them. They saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself when I was younger. They saw the potential and now I am living up to it. I want to do it for all of them and prove them right.”

Tony Reid

In July of 2008 Tony Reid launched an MMA inspired clothing line that he named Reid Fight Wear. He saw a need in the MMA clothing market for a more classic, clean and timeless design and less of the dated styles seen then. In the process of major life changes, Tony cashed out his 401(k), emptied his bank account and put his heart and soul into building the brand. In August 2009 Tony began writing for TapouT and MMA Worldwide Magazines. There he created Rattling the Cage, an MMA specific news site and home for all of his work. In May of 2012 Reid began writing for Ultimate MMA Magazine, launching an MMA Legends and MMA Officials Series. Also in May of the same year he started appearing regularly on ESPN 92.3 WVSL as the MMA Insider. In early August of 2012 Reid was named General Manager of UFC Fighter Tim Boetsch’s Barbarian Combat Sports in Sunbury, PA. By December 2012 Reid started contributing to Fighters Only Magazine. "The World's Leading MMA and Lifestyle Magazine" is sold in over 30 countries around the world and has the largest reach of any international magazine of its type. In May of 2013 Reid became a monthly segment host on Sirius XM Radio. Appearing the first Thursday of every month on TapouT Radio on SiriusXM (Sirius 92 XM 208) in a segment he created called "On Blast!" where he puts people in the MMA world on notice. In June of 2013 Reid began writing for the UK based MMA Uncaged Magazine. In August of 2013, Reid launched "Rattling the Cage with Tony Reid" a talk radio show he hosted on ESPN 92.3 WVSL "The Valley's Sports Leader". The show aired over 100 episodes and featured some of the biggest and brightest stars in the world of combat sports. It was one of the most successful shows in the station's history. In May of 2016 Reid became a feature writer for FloCombat. In September of the same year Reid began writing for ONE Championship, Asia’s largest global sports media property in history. Reid is happy to now join the team at MyMMANews as a contributor.

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