Shannon Clark is not like a lot of prospects on the cusp of the UFC. While you might hear some of them demand a spot on the mic or hear them say this has been their dream since they’ve been in diapers – you won’t get any of that from Clark. First of all, she’s too polite to demand much of anything. And secondly, she didn’t realize how bad she wanted this until it slipped right under her nose.
“My goal – never until it’s got taken away from my knockout – was to make the UFC. Never gave a shit about it. Didn’t care. It was all side hobby,” Clark explains of her loss on the Contender Series. “And then I see the like now being that close and seeing the performances of people – I know I deserve to be there.”
Despite being told from her corner and her manager that she needs to make some noise on the microphone, that just simply isn’t her. While so many fighters bring on a new persona in order to sell themselves, “MMA Barbie” is just true to herself every step of the way.
“When you’re in the cage and they ask me what’s next, I’ve been told to and I wish I had that in me to be like ‘Dana, if you don’t give me a chance, I’m going to keep beating 125er where you have until you give it to me,'” she explained. “I wish I had that attitude, but it’s not who I am.”
Although she’s not quite ready to demand that into the microphone on a big stage, she does feel it. After coming back from the loss on Contender Series, she was told from the organization that it was down to pretty much three women at the top of the division. It didn’t take long for her to clear out that grouping and do so in a spectacular way.
“I one point, I was kind of told it would be Chey [Bowers], me, and Bea [Consuli]. I beat Chey. Okay. Now it’s Bea. Now if I beat her there’s no one else – as far as I was told,” Clark shared. “I just want to fight. I don’t sit out this long ever and I just want it… then when they found I was Brazil and it was just like, ‘okay’. I was told it. ‘Are you sure? Are you sure?’ And I didn’t know but apparently you don’t fly to Brazil – you don’t as the champ. You don’t go to their territory.”
After going into Brazil as the only North American on the card, Clark appears to have cleared out all of the reasonable contenders at the top of this LFA flyweight division. And while we won’t hear her say all of that, she does have a message for the UFC boss.
“Just take me, please. I will work my ass off for you, Dana. Or tell me at least tell me what I need to do. Is it another fight? Is it because I don’t I’m just starting to bring my social media back because I know that is such a thing nowadays, right?” she said. “I just wish they would tell me and I hope I just get a clear answer sooner than later.”
Keep an eye out for that call to come for the LFA flyweight champion in the near future. In the meantime, you can catch her entire interview about where she discusses a surprisingly friendly trip to Brazil, the mental side of her game, and so much more.
