By now you know the story: with her second-round TKO of Mariya Agapova last August, Shana Dobson pulled off the biggest betting upset in UFC history. Agapova reportedly entered the contest a whopping -1600 favorite, and the victory snapped a three-fight losing streak for “Danger.”
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“It’s nice to prove people wrong,” says Dobson. “It’s nice doing what they think you couldn’t do.”
The victory became something of a battle flag for underdogs in all walks of life, and as she entered fight week in Las Vegas Monday for her bout against Casey O’Neill, underground rapper P-Moneyy dropped “Underground” in her honor.
Dobson was in the airport getting ready to fly to Vegas for her fight when she got a message from the rapper that the song was out on Spotify, iTunes and Apple Music. Even though she had a vague notion a song might be in the works, she was still floored that it came to fruition like it did.
“I checked out the song, I listened to it, and I haven’t stopped listening to it all fight week, man,” she says, smiling. “It gets me so hype. The song is dope; it’s got a flow and he can spit.”
For her part, Dobson was elated, but not surprised. She had been doubted her entire career to that point. Even through a difficult skid, she always knew she had the goods. Spending the past year-plus at Colorado’s esteemed Elevation Fight Team has only strengthened that resolve.
This one goes out to the underdogs ?
Last time out, @Shana_Dobson gave us the upset of the year! #UFCVegas19 pic.twitter.com/PV6wTulcqL
— UFC (@ufc) February 16, 2021
“I knew that I was better than my outcomes. Me and my mental coach, Eliot Marshall, we talk about this. Sean Madden is my head coach and he’s very great with the mental game as well. Too many fighters attach themselves–their worth–to the outcome and not so much the process. I knew that I was successful in the process. I knew that I was growing in the gym. If I had attached myself to my outcomes, I could have given up a long time ago.”
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Dobson knew she was an underdog heading into the bout with Agapova, but had no idea how lopsided the odds were until after she got her hand raised. She speaks with obvious pride about the win, but more as a fun footnote than a defining moment.
“It’s crazy because I almost feel like everybody is more excited for that fight than I am. I was talking to my coach about it, and it might as well have happened two years ago to me. It’s in the past. It was a great moment. It was a historical moment. By the next day it was like ‘Who’s next?’ I have to focus on what’s ahead of me, the moment in front of me right now, which is my fight this Saturday.”
— Danger Dobson (@shana_dobson) February 15, 2021
It would be the perfect end to this story if Dobson could make a walk to the P-Moneyy song penned just for her this Saturday during the prelims of UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs Lewis, but it arrived a little too late in the event production schedule to make it happen. But you’d better believe she still has plans for it.
“This P-Moneyy song is definitely going to be my walkout song my next fight,” she promises. “It makes the cut, for sure.
“I think there’s certain things a fighter would want to reach besides the belt, like getting into the UFC game, becoming an action figure, and maybe having a song made after them. So I’ve got one down!”
