British Columbia’s Shane Campbell brought a 62-9 kickboxing record an a burgeoning record as an MMA knockout artist into his UFC debut Saturday night in Montreal.
But John Makdessi was there waiting for him, and the TriStar fighter showed how it gets done at the highest level. Makdessi opened up with a striking clinic against the late replacement fighter, winning via TKO at 4:53 over the opening round of their 160-pound catchweight bout.
“In my head, I’m fighting a world champion,” Makdessi (13-3). “I’m honored to be able to fight a fighter of that caliber.”
Makdessi cracked Campbell (11-3) with a huge right hand midway trough the round and followed up with a flurry of punches. Campbell looked to be done, but somehow got back to his feet. Makdessi tagged him with another right, though, and opened up as Campbell covered up until the bout was waved off.
“TriStar has such diversity of fighters,” said Makdessi, who won for the fourth time in his past five bouts. “That’s why they’re one of the best MMA gyms, if there’s a late replacement, they’re ready.”