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.”
