Before her LFA debut last October, Shannon Clark expressed uncertainty about her fighting abilities, stating that she wasn’t sure if she was good at it yet. Despite her dominant performance against Nejra Repp at LFA 170, where she secured a unanimous 30-27 victory on every judge’s scorecard, her perception of her skills remained unchanged.
“No, I didn’t start to believe I’m good,” Clark admitted. “I actually have to work on my winning face. I was told by a lot of my friends and family that were watching that it looked like I was the one that lost because I was really upset with my performance. I was not happy with myself. So actually, I was more frustrated. I was like, ‘Maybe I’m really not that good yet.'”
This observation from her loved ones was later affirmed by Clark herself after reviewing the fight and the decision.
“I was really upset with myself, and unfortunately, with me, it shows on my face,” she explained. “I’m very bad at hiding my facial expressions. So when they raised my hand last fight, I didn’t know I was pouting that bad, but when I rewatched the film, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, Shannon.'”
Despite receiving praise from others for her performance, Clark’s demeanor reflected her own critical assessment. While she never appeared to be in jeopardy of losing, she believed there was more she could have done, providing her with areas to focus on for her upcoming fight.
“One of my greatest weaknesses is that I’m really good at listening to my coach,” Clark admitted. “I see something in a fight that he doesn’t necessarily see because he can’t from where he is. But since it’s not part of the plan we had, I stick to the game plan, and I get frustrated because I’m like, ‘That’s right there.'”
With this in mind, she continues to work on trusting her instincts in the moment, a concept her coach has emphasized for some time. She will have an opportunity to do so when she competes for the LFA flyweight title at LFA 177.
While fighting for the LFA title could potentially boost her confidence in her fighting abilities, Clark remains unaware of the significance of the opportunity.
“That’s news to me. I didn’t know any of that,” she said. “It’s hard because I don’t want to come across as naive or anything, but in my mind, it’s just a title fight. Everyone gets offered title fights everywhere. I think I just underestimate how significant of a fight this actually is.”
Her title bout against Thaiany Lopes is scheduled for this Friday at LFA 177, with the main card set to begin at 9 pm EST and broadcasted on UFC Fight Pass.