PERTH, Australia – Shannon Ross had no idea how heavily compromised he was when he competed on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Ross (13-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC) experienced stomach pain during the week of his Contender Series bout against Vinicius Salvador last August, but he chalked it up to hunger caused by his weight cut. Little did Ross know that he had a ruptured appendix, which he ended up fighting with against Salvador. The Australian lost by second-round TKO in a slugfest that had Dana White on his feet.
“I had appendicitis all fight week, and it was ruptured before I actually went out to the fight,” Ross told reporters at media day. “I fought with a ruptured appendix, septicemia, blood poisoning, and then the day straight after the fight, I went to the hospital in Las Vegas, got emergency surgery, had to stay in the hospital for five days, and then flew back to Australia and started my rehab then.”
He continued, “The day after the fight when I was shaking and convulsing in my hotel room, my coach said, ‘This isn’t hunger; this is something else.’ We got down to the hospital, and they CT scanned my stomach and they said, You have a ruptured appendix. We’ve got to go in for surgery.'”
Much to Ross’ surprise, he was rewarded with a UFC contract for his toughness shortly after undergoing surgery. He makes his promotional debut against Kleydson Rodrigues (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 284 event at RAC Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 284.
