Day in the life: Justen Shannon

Justen Shannon has always been an athlete, ever since he was 4 years old and his father was his T-ball coach in California. As he grew up, his love for being active evolved from basketball to cage fighting.

“The Cannon,” as he is commonly known, moved to Greenfield with his parents, Kim and Marty Daino, and started his senior year at Nodaway Valley High School. He played basketball, football and baseball before graduating high school in 2007.

Shannon and his high school teammates got third place at state basketball the year he graduated.

“We went to state and all that good stuff. That was a fun experience for sure,” Shannon said. “Then, it kind of transitioned from not playing basketball anymore after I played for a year in college. I just wanted to stay active and that’s how it led to MMA.”

About seven years ago, Shannon fought his first bout in the cage, winning seven fights. Now, Shannon, 27, has been preparing for his next cage fight, which takes place Saturday at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska. This mixed martial arts (MMA) fight is one step closer to Shannon’s hope of going professional.

Victory Fighter

Shannon has been training between six and eight weeks for the Victory Fighter Championship fight Saturday in Omaha. His days have consisted of weightlifting and cardio in the morning, an average of 10 hours on the construction site with his father, who owns Daino Construction, then two hours of training at Henry’s Martial Arts in Creston.

“The only difference this training was the added morning cardio, mainly because the title fight this Saturday is five, three-minute rounds,” Shannon said. “That’s compared to a normal bout that is only three rounds.”

Shannon thinks the added cardio training will give him an edge.

“I think, if anything, you can always do more, but to me, cardio is one of the biggest things in the sport. Usually, everybody gets tired at one point, and it’s just who gets tired first usually ends up losing the fight,” Shannon said. “I feel like everything I do on my own and everything we do here as a team helps me not be the first one tired.”

The event starts 6 p.m. Saturday, and Shannon said he’s getting more excited for his bout.

“If anything, I’m more excited now that it’s closer to weigh-ins being done,” Shannon said. “I can weigh in at 2 p.m. today, so after that, all the hard stuff is over and the fight will be the fun part.”

“I’m not nervous at all, just ready for it to be here,” Shannon added. “I feel very prepared with everything we have been working on at Henry’s for this fight.”

Shannon has Josh Henry of Henry’s Martial Arts with him in the corner, and his parents will also be in attendance for the title fight.

Beginnings

“The Cannon” Shannon became serious about fighting after taking several years off while in college. He earned an associate’s degree and is currently in the process of earning his bachelor’s degree in sports and event management from AIB.

“I took my first fight about six or seven years ago, and then (fought) kind of off and on because I went to AIB and played college basketball for a year,” Shannon said. “So, I stopped fighting for about two years. I’d say I’ve been really serious the past three or four years.”

He fought on Wednesdays at Uncle Buck’s in Des Moines, and eventually grew to taking Des Moines’ Midwest Cage Championship 185-pound amateur belt at Hy-Vee Hall. October 2015 he won the 185-pound belt after a King of the Cage bout.

“Mixed martial arts is basically, you get to use everything except gouging eyes and pulling hair,” Shannon said. “Knees, elbows, kicks, punches, all that good stuff is OK.”

Shannon realized he enjoyed having something to do with his spare time after college basketball was over for him. And, his winning powered him on.

“My most exciting fight was for the 185 MCC belt because I won that fight, and that’s one of the bigger promotions in Iowa and the Midwest,” Shannon said. “A lot of their pro fighters have gone on to the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), which is about as high as you can go in the sport.”

Cutting weight was the hardest part for Shannon, since he never wrestled in high school. After cutting weight and weighing in for his weight class, Shannon said it’s a race to rehydrate before the bout.

“I’ve done so much here,” Shannon said. “I’ve had 21 fights now, and these last ones I’ve finally been calm about.”

Future

After a major arm injury in 2011, Shannon has learned to “fight smart, not tough.”

“My worst fight that I’ve lost was at an MCC fight, where I got put into a submission, an arm bar,” Shannon said, twisting his arm at an uncomfortable angle to show the move. “I was younger in my career and I was just trying to be tough, and I’d say dumb now because I didn’t tap out (leave the fight) and got my arm popped and almost snapped in half.”

“It taught me not to get put in that position for sure, but it taught me as an amateur to protect yourself for sure. The fight’s important, obviously, but at the end of the day, as an amateur, you’re still fighting for free, so prolonging your career is probably a smart thing,” Shannon said.

All the ligaments in his elbow cup were ripped and the forearm muscle was nearly detached from the elbow. Since then, the arm has healed and Shannon has taken extra care during his fights in order to prolong his career.

“If I win this fight, I should be able to get a pro fight and start taking those steps,” Shannon said. “I’m going to keep fighting as long as there aren’t serious injuries. But, right now, I would just like to see where it takes me.”

“It is kind of weird, because you’re going in and they’re trying to hurt you,” he said. “As long as I’m calm by the time I get into the cage, everything else falls into place.”

Shannon wants to continue his fighting career professionally, and hopefully travel the country fighting.

“One of the main things a lot of people get to do is go to a lot of different cities and states to fight, and that’s one thing I’d like to do with this,” Shannon said. “Winning fights is the most important, and if I win, who knows what will happen.”