Coast fighter in UFC debut

AT first, Shannon Ross just didn’t want to end up like his older brothers.

“They were in and out of jail, or on drugs,” said Ross, who is on the verge of his UFC debut.

“I had two younger brothers, and I wanted to set them an example. We didn’t have a father figure in our house, so it was up to me.

“I just thought, if I do the exact opposite of my older brothers, I’ll end up being a good person.”

And then, Ross became a father of his own.

He met wife Rebeca and they had their first daughter, Taiah, 15 years ago, followed by Lacey (14), son Nixon (six) and youngest daughter Hawanii (three).

“I was determined to make sure they didn’t grow up like me, and go through what I had to go through,” Ross said.

So the Gold Coast mechanic woke at 5am each day, trained in mixed martial arts, completed his work fixing cars, then trained again before walking back through his front door.

“By the time I got back, the younger kids would be asleep, sometimes I wouldn’t see them for two or three days,” Ross said.

“Juggling work and fighting for 13 years, it was tough. At the start of this year, I was ready to quit, and focus on the next chapter of my life, start my own business.

“But my wife said to me, ‘You’re not allowed to quit yet, not until you get a contract’. She was the force behind me.”

As fate would have it, flyweight Ross won a shot at the UFC’s Contender series.

While he lost a brutal fight against Brazil’s Vinicius Salvador, UFC boss Dana White was so impressed with his toughness he offered Ross a contract anyway.

At the time of offering, Ross was having emergency surgery to remove his appendix, with doctors believing he carried acute appendicitis into the fight.

Now, Ross has been confirmed for the stacked UFC 284 card in Perth on February 12, the organisation’s first show in Australia in three years.

“It is surreal to think that after all the hard work and grind, that I’ll get to make my UFC debut in my home country, and alongside some of the best fighters in the world, with Alex [Volkanovksi] going for double champ (fighting lightweight champion Islam Makachev] and Rob Whittaker fighting Paulo Costa,” Ross said.

“This is a dream come true.” Ross will be fighting Brazilian Kleydson Rodriguez in Perth’s RAC Arena.