Despite a couple of cancelled bouts, the past year has been pretty good for super-lightweight Shane Campbell.
Back-to-back wins for Unified MMA in 2022 was capped off by winning a championship in the company, solidifying his second unblemished year in a row.
“I was undefeated in 2022 so that’s a good start,” Campbell told MMAWeekly.com. “I grew in a couple of interesting ways in my game that I didn’t really anticipate, but it worked out. My fight in December (versus Darren Smith Jr.) was great; getting a title in a very dominant performance. That was pretty much that year.”
15 years and over 30 fights across various combat sports in his pro fighting career, Campbell still feels like he’s growing and makes an effort to not stagnate with his game as he continues his path.
“Every day is a constant battle, a little bit, a little bit, keep improving on everything,” said Campbell. “I’m getting closer to my brown belt (in Jiu-Jitsu), my wrestling is improving, and I feel growth in every aspect of my game.”
On March 31 in Enoch, Alberta, Canada, Campbell (21-8) will look to defend his title when he takes on Darrell Horcher (14-6) in the 165-pound championship main event of Unified MMA 50.
“I don’t follow or really look into my opponent too much,” Campbell said. “My coaches don’t seem too worried. I’ll keep doing the same thing I have been doing and what’s been working for me. I go into every fight looking for the game plan I have anyway.
“No one is good with having to deal with constant pressure, and the best defense is a good offense, so I’ll keep doing what I’m doing because nobody’s been stopping it yet.”
As a veteran of the sport, Campbell has never been one to look too far down the road, as he’s learned to focus on the task at hand, and so far it’s worked out for him more often than not.
“In this industry we can only take it one fight at a time, but I do try to plan the year a little bit roughly in advance,” said Campbell. “This three, four month period I had three fights lined up but one fell through, so nothing is guaranteed. You can plan it a little bit but there are a lot of things that are out of our ability to control.”