Shanon Slack (born April 23, 1983) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competes in Bellator's

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

division.

Background

Slack lived his early life in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, but his family moved to

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

when he was in the

6th grade Sixth grade (or grade six in some regions) is the sixth year of schooling. Students are typically 11–12 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs. Different terms and numbers are used in other parts of the world. It is commonly the firs ...

. In wrestling, he was a high school All American as a senior, wrestled at Cerritos College where he won All-American honors and the California JUCO title then

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

and

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

and trained at the

Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Spri ...

. After the 2008 Olympic trials, Slack moved to California and began working as a

financial analyst A financial analyst is a professional, undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. The role may specifically be titled securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst, ...

. Soon after, he gained interest in

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

and met

Dominick Cruz Dominick Cruz (born March 9, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion. Cruz ha ...

. He trained with Cruz in California at the

Alliance MMA Alliance MMA Inc. ( NASDAQ: AMMA) is a mixed martial arts organization offering promotional opportunities for aspiring fighters to showcase their talent and advance to further professional competitions. Alliance MMA's mission is to identify and ...

then went on to coach top MMA fighters Junior Dos Santos, Rodrigo Noguiera, and Rogerio Noguiera in Brazil. Then, in 2009 he was invited to train at Black House, a Brazilian fighting team. Slack was also one of the coaches of Team Cruz in '' The Ultimate Fighter: Live''.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Slack started his professional career in 2009. He compiled three straight victories in two years, before signing with Bellator in 2012.

Bellator MMA

Slack made his debut against Booker Arthur on May 18, 2012 at

Bellator 69 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so i ...

. He won via unanimous decision. Slack faced Matt McCook on July 20, 2012 at

Bellator 72 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so ...

. Slack had his first career's defeat via split decision (29-28 McCook, 29-28 Slack, 29-28 McCook). Slack faced Sky Moiseichik on November 9, 2012 at

Bellator 80 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so ...

. He won via unanimous decision. Slack faced Josh Tyler on February 21, 2013 at

Bellator 90 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight ch ...

. Tyler was defeated via submission due to a Peruvian necktie in the third round.

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

USA Wrestling USA Wrestling (formerly known as the United States Wrestling Federation and as the United States Wrestling Association) is the organization that currently governs freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States. USA Wrestling is ...

**University Greco-Roman Wrestling National Championships 141 lb: 3rd place out of

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with ...

(2005) *

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

**Virginia Intercollegiate Championship 141 lb: Champion out of

(2006) *

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

**JUCO National Championship 141 lb: Champion out of

Cerritos College Cerritos College is a public community college in Norwalk, California. It offers degrees and certificates in 87 areas of study in nine divisions. History The college was founded in 1955. It was named after Rancho Los Cerritos, a local r ...

(2002) *California Community College Wrestling **California Community College Wrestling Championships 141 lb: Champion out of

(2002) University Wrestling National Championships 2006 4th place

Mixed martial arts record

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Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

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Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

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Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

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Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Noe Quintanilla , Decision (unanimous) , Iron Will Fighting Championship 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slack, Shanon 1983 births Living people American male sport wrestlers Amateur wrestlers American male mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Bellator male fighters Old Dominion University alumni Mixed martial artists from California Sportspeople from Orange County, California