Shane Campbell on Shaved Bears, Unified MMA 42, and Bare Knuckle
Shane Campbell takes on Hubert Geven at Unified MMA 42 for the lightweight championship. This goes down on December 17th from River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alberta.
I spoke with Campbell ahead of this fight and excerpts from our chat are below.
Getting in that great work over at Shaved Bears MMA
“Yeah, we got a pretty solid lightweight crew there. So it’s working awesome.”
“I mean, there’s me, Cole Campbell, Neal Anderson, Mike Scarcello. So the four of us are all in around the same weight and we all each have our strengths. So it’s bringing something great to the table, all four of us working together.”
Campbell’s last bout vs Matt Krayco representing the quickest short notice opponent switch of his combat career
“Oh, absolutely. I’ve never really had someone switch out even like the week of my fight. Where that one was, I was just walking down to the venue to go there and get ready. That was when I got the call.”
Shane Campbell
If tape study opportunities popped up with Hubert Geven ahead of Unified MMA 42
“I didn’t really find too much footage on him. I know that I’m a fighter that can change quite a bit within one year. So, like you said, footage from a few years back is hard to really take any judgment on. I don’t really pay too much attention to preparing specifically for any one opponent. I’ve had so many injuries over the years. I just kind of base my training on what I can and work around what injuries I have. Mostly just try to prevent any new ones coming in before the fight. I’m a Veteran. Pretty confident to take anyone on especially anyone that’s not inside the UFC right now. I’m not too worried. I could wake up tomorrow to fight any which one of them.”
Going from 165 lbs to 155 lbs for this contest
“Making 155 pounds is one of the biggest, hardest parts for me fighting right now. Making 165 for my last fight was far easier but making 155 pounds is definitely a struggle for me. I mean, anyone that shows up at that weight to fight me, if they didn’t cut as much they’re going to have a bit of an advantage. When losing that much water weight within a couple of hours, it takes its toll on your cardio. With it being a five-round fight, it’s not in my favor to make to cut all that weight. But I got a belt that I got to defend. So it’s all business.”
Unified MMA
Having an undefeated record in Unified MMA, being on UFC Fight Pass, and a possible path back to the UFC
“Hopefully get back to the UFC. That’s the main goal. It’s been a New Year’s Resolution for a couple of years now… I really thought the last one was gonna help get me there. But you know, another good showing. Mostly, any step up we need that highlight finish. It’s really gonna be what puts me over the edge. Not that anyone doesn’t think I can do it. You got to still be producing.”
Possible Muay Thai and Bare Knuckle boxing options
“I’ve just got this fight ahead of me and then whatever doors open up after that I’m open to all options. I got a few years left. So I want to get something, get as many in as I can.”
“Well, I’m signed with Fight Night, as well as Unified. I’m one of the champions for Fight Night here in Lethbridge in Alberta. So they offer Muay Thai, Bare Knuckle Boxing, and MMA. As soon as they fire up the next show, I’ll be headlining that. With either defending my title or fighting for one of those other two sports, depends. I mean, in my scenario right now it’s who in Canada is actually willing to fight me. There’s a lot of people that just won’t. Even for Unified right now, we’ve got to pull someone in from Holland. A champion from the Netherlands. To be able to fly all the way to Canada here just to compete.”
Unified MMA 42
“I’ve ran through the rest of the competition here in Canada and if there’s any 155-ers that are willing to step up. For Fight Night, I’ve got the 165 title, so there we go. 165 anyone in Canada, let’s step up. Otherwise yeah, I’ll be doing Muay Thai or bare-knuckle. Maybe there’s some boxers that want to come at me for the bare-knuckle boxing. I’ve done my job, got the titles, now I’m kind of sitting back and waiting for other people to challenge me.”
Parting thoughts for Shane Campbell
“Tune in if you want to see me putting on some more highlights. I’ve got tricks up my sleeve. I got more hadoukens, toe stabs, dragon kicks. There’s a few super uppercuts I’ve been working on. So who knows what I can actually pull out? I’m most likely gonna knock this guy out. Bring him by the office, throw him in some chambers, and heal him up.”
Shane Campbell continued, “That’s it, just huge shout out to Apothec Naturals and Wellness where I am right now. We offer the hyperbaric chambers and a few other holistic approaches to healing the body. Chukuni Outdoor Sports in the middle of Canada here. They’re the guys to take you out on canoe trips, hunting, and whatever else the great outback has got for you.”
