May 27, 2016
Campbell will not underestimate his own skills against Koch
Canadian Shane Campbell returns to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night Las Vegas this Sunday when he faces Erik Koch in the opening bout on the preliminary card. Tthe 29-year-old is ready to trust in his own skills to lead him to victory.
Early in the opening round of his unanimous decision loss to James Krause, it was clear that Canadian Shane Campbell had the standing advantage over his opponent. Krause forced the fight to the ground, where he found more success and tried to finish Campbell but could not get the job done. Eventually the 29-year-old turned the tables, but even capturing the final round was not enough to gain the victory.
What went wrong for Campbell during his February loss is mistake he will not be repeating when he returns to the Octagon this Sunday at UFC Fight Night Las Vegas to face Erik Koch in the prelim card’s opening bout.
“In the last fight I underestimated myself and based on that I held back,” Campbell told TSN.ca. “When it’s time to fight, I’m not going to hold back on the thought that I might get countered or swept.”
The loss was the 29-year-old’s fourth in professional MMA and he’s managed to bounce back with a victory after the three previous setbacks, owed to an attitude that doesn’t change, no matter the outcome of the bout.
“Coming in off a loss or win isn’t too much difference to me,” said Campbell. “I try to always have my ch’i level and as long as I’m happy in my life, I feel like I do well no matter what.”
Another situation that Campbell is familiar with is being an injury replacement, as he made his UFC debut against John Makdessi in a 160 lbs. short notice, catchweight bout. He steps in this time for an injured Joe Proctor who pulled out of the fight in late April.
While he feels he could have done more with a full camp, the Kelowna based fighter does not expect the shorter notice to have any effect on how he feels heading into the fight.
“My rhythm is never thrown off based on how short notice I take a fight,” said Campbell. “I could have had some better preparation over a longer period of time and really brought in some training partners specifically for this guy, but that’s not something I’ve ever really cared too much about.”
While Campbell has the disadvantage of shorter notice, his opponent will have the hindrance of not having been in the Octagon since May of 2014, pulling out of fights with Drew Dober and Ramsey Nijem with injuries.
Campbell could see an advantage but isn’t taking anything for granted when it comes to the readiness of his opponent.
“I think ring rust is a real thing but I’ve trained so hard in the gym, especially back at Iron Tiger (Muay Thai Gym), that those sparring sessions were much harder than any fights.”
“Obviously performing in front of a huge stadium, so many people and live on TV is going to be more than just sparring really hard in the gym, but I don’t know how his life or camp has been going so I’m not going to assume anything going into the fight.”